The Final Fantasy XI Chronicles
by Vivli
Summary: A million year old evil has returned to Vana'diel, and it is seeking a young white mage mithra. She is protected only by three adventurers she met at random. Now completed. Please take the time to read!
1. I

**THE FFXI CHRONICLES**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, first of all, thanks for taking an interest. This story is a bit long, I am aware, I apologise for that. I couldn't tell the story in a small space. If you do decide to read this chapter, or the whole story, I'd love for you to leave a comment on how I can improve it. If you read this chapter and it didn't interest you, tell me. I'd love to hear criticism about both my writing and the plot itself. If you think a bit is done poorly, and can suggest how to improve it, and I agree, I'll go back and change it also, so don't think you're just criticising for the sake of it. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the story! And either way, I hope you'll leave a comment, even if it's just yelling at me for being crap.**

Well, that's enough drivel from me. If this goes on any longer you'll be bored before you read the damn thing. Enjoy!

**PART I**

"_Wow. You pulled it off."_

"_Of course. You taught me after all."_

"_Yeah, that's why I thought you wouldn't make it."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Thought you'd be smarter."_

"_What the hell are you talking about?"_

"_Hand it over. Now."_

"_What? No!"_

"_NOW!"_

"_What's wrong with you?"_

"_You leave me no choice."_

"_AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

The sun beamed down on the city of Bastok like it always did. It was in the desert after all. A large hill overlooked the city, a refuge for monsters and men alike. Neither wanted to be found.

The sound of gold coins in bag rustling was all that disrupted the silence of the hill. Zinkata was hurling the bag around in joy. A fairly young man, in his early twenties. His hair was moderately long, grown from years of being unable to afford to cut it. All that kept it short was his dagger. A blue t-shirt and black trousers were all that protected him, but he had learnt fast that in the career path of a thief, it wasn't armour you needed, it was speed.

That said, recently he had been experiencing some strange emotions. Namely, regret. He never used to feel that. This gold coin bag he had gotten. He had stolen it off some young mithran girl who had just arrived in Bastok. It wasn't really fair. She had no idea what the city was like, and wouldn't of seen it coming.

He shook his head. These weren't the kind of feelings he should be having. He had been risen as a thief. What did he care? Unfortunately, even though he had shaken off these thoughts, it had distracted him long enough to not notice the rampaging sheep heading straight for him. He turned, but was too late. He was rammed by it and flipped directly over it. He crashed down on the other side with a groan. The gold bag flew out of his hand. He pulled his dagger as quickly as he could and turned to face the creature. His ribs were aching. Probably broken.

He was ready to stab it as soon as it attacked. But it didn't. It began making a strange noise. By the time he figured out what it was doing it was too late. The slumber song of the sheep. He drifted off into sleep, slamming to the ground.

He remembered dreamingly being dragged along the ground. Wearingly. When he opened his eyes again fully, he was in a cave. Groggy. He could make out the sheep. It was eating something off the ground. His eyes hadn't adjusted, so he couldn't make it out. He was actually glad of this fact.

Suddenly the sheep looked up. Something was bothering it by the cave entrance. It moved cautiously forwards before a black form rocketed in and onto the sheep's back. There was a gargle and the sheep was dead. Zinkata blinked, and could make it out. A black wolf. Large, angry eyes scanned the cave, picking Zinkata out right away. The bony wolf hurled itself at Zinkata as fast as it could. The thief was defenceless, and finally realised he was facing death.

Except the wolf never got to him. It sprang back comically to the ground. Something had hold of its tail. Zinkata made out by the light of the cave entrance a gigantic form. It could only be a galka. Galka were gigantic mountains of muscle, with pale blue skin and thick tails. They were actually genderless, although most referred to them as male. There was an old rule in the world of Vana'diel; 'Never anger a galka. Ever.'

The wolf recoiled and sprang at the galka. He just caught it by its neck. It thrashed its claws around wildly, ripping into the flesh upon the arm of the huge creature. It was futile. The galka hurled the wolf into the ground and delivered a firm punch to its face. Its skull was completely crushed.

"Whoa," Zinkata managed to get out as he stood up, "Guess I owe you one."

"There's no guessing about it." Came a firm response. He could now make out the galka's features. A grizzly black beard and thick black hair on his head. He looked permanently angry.

"What's that supposed to be? A subtle hint you want a reward?" Zinkata smirked as he crossed his arms.

"It wasn't subtle." The galka stated.

"Well, I never asked you to take care of the wolf. You did so at your own accord." There was a pause. "Have a name?" Zinkata offered.

"Bootus." The gigantic form responded.

"I'm Zinkata, thief extraordinaire!"

"Yes. I can see that. You being asleep in this cave and all." It was now Bootus's turn to smirk. "And give me back my wallet or you'll end up like that wolf."

"Damn!" Cried Zinkata.

"DIE YOU SPOONY MIDGETS!" Came a loud cry from outside.

"Midgets?" Zinkata responded in confusion.

"Tarutarus! They must be in trouble!" Bootus shot out of the cave. Tarutaru's were small humanoids, usually powerful magic users. Bootus's response was harder to explain.

Zinkata ran out of the cave as well to discover the cry came from a tall elvaan, wildly swinging a sword around. He had typical gigantic elven ears and short black hair. He saw the spoony midgets as well. Not tarutaru's, but goblins. And there were a lot of them. The elven swordsman was doing his best to fight them off, but he was outnumbered. Bootus quickly assessed the situation and ran in, grabbing one of the goblin's and throwing it down the hill. The elf ran to Bootus, and the goblins followed.

"Thanks, but it'll take more than that to get us out of this!" The elf cried.

"Bah, this looks fun!" Yelled Bootus. "It's clobberin' time!"

Bootus ran in and slammed one of the goblins in the face, knocking it out. Another of the little creatures drove a small blade into the back of his leg. The galka let out a roar. The elf cut it down effortlessly.

"Name's Voldos. Pleased to meet you." The elf said casually while cutting apart another goblin.

"Can't say the same. Look what you got me into." Bootus decided to stop trying to punch the small creatures, and instead kicked one. It flew across the hill, and had their lives not been in mortal danger, they probably would have laughed.

Zinkata had been watching, wishing he still had his dagger. Two of the goblins turned to face him, and he stumbled back. He was unarmed, and they had short swords. He kept backing away until he reached the edge of the hill, and fell, rolling down. He slammed into the ground and blacked out.

His eyes blinked open some time later. His head was pounding. This hadn't been his best day ever. _At least it can't get much worse _he thought.

"Well, well, well." Came a voice. "Glad to see you're awake." A head popped into view over him and he cursed. A mithra. A young mithran girl no less. She smiled as she looked down upon him. "Although that wound looks nasty."

"What woun- GAAAARGH!" He screamed as he tried to get up. His leg was twisted backwards and his ribs smashed. His head felt like it had been ripped off as well.

"What a shame you don't have any friends who know White Magic, eh?" She moved out of view, and he managed to turn his head to follow her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zinkata spluttered.

"Of course, I do. I could heal you right up with magic instantly." She stopped moving. "But why would I?"

"Don't you have an oath to this kind of thing?" Zinkata asked.

"Yes. But you stole my money. Now give it back and I'll heal you." She seemed smug.

"Love to. But I lost it." Zinkata groaned.

"Lost it?" She cried. "Aw no." She sat down. "It's not fair! That's all I had!"

"Well, it ain't yours anymore." She had her head in her hands. A moment later Zinkata felt himself engulfed in a white light. The pain faded.

"You healed me anyway?" He gasped.

"Like you said: I have an oath." She muttered. "Now get lost!" She started sobbing and Zinkata sighed.

"Oh, for the Gods' sake!" Zinkata cried. "Give it a rest. Money's easy to get back."

"For you maybe. I don't steal from innocent travellers." She spat back.

"Made a friend?" Asked Bootus as he walked over. He looked fairly cut up. His arm was still heavily bleeding, so was his leg. He had a new stab wound on his chest. Voldos limped behind, equally wounded.

"Shut up." Zinkata sighed.

"You two look like you need healing." The mithra pointed out.

"We sure as hell ain't here for the company." Bootus announced.

"Nice way to go about getting healed, there." Voldos sighed.

"Hey, she has an oath. She has to." Bootus laughed.

"Gorramit! I am so sick of that dammed oath!" Screamed the mage. With a wave of her hand, the two warriors were soon back to normal.

"Thanks." Voldos said. Bootus was silent.

"Say, don't suppose you could donate any money for my services?" The mage asked.

"No." Came the single word response from the galka.

"But-" The mithra tried to form words, "This fool means I'm broke." She gestured to Zinkata. "He stole all my money."

"Well done." Bootus said to Zinkata.

"So what do you do now?" Voldos asked, more concerned.

"I don't know. With no money I can't get an official adventurer's licence. With no licence, I don't get a house. Without a house, I have nowhere to stay." She paused. "I guess I'm going to have to camp outside the city." Voldos looked over her. She had thick orange hair, shorter than Zinkata's even. It hung in tiny pigtails down the side of her face. She was unusually short, and very lightly built.

"You wouldn't last two seconds outside the city walls at night." Voldos stated. "I can help you earn some money." He paused, looking at Zinkata. "And so will he." Voldos pulled Zinkata over. "He owes you."

"Well, then." Bootus cried. "Looks like you people need a monk. And I need a party. Just don't expect me to like any of you."

"We expect you to extend us the same privilege." Zinkata said with a smile.

"Thanks for the help." The mage managed to say, changing the subject. "I'm Vivli by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Voldos nodded. "Everybody in on this mission then?" Everybody nodded. "Excellent. Now we need to find a city guard."

"I'll tell you what I tell every adventurer." The guard said, staring at the unusual band in front of him. "It's common knowledge the mines to the north have been overrun with quadav. But, as an army, we aren't allowed to act until the government sees proof. And we can't get proof until we're allowed to act." The guard sighed at the stupidity. "So we need adventurers to go in and bring back proof of the quadav presence there." He stopped again. "We've sent many. None have returned. That is why we're looking for groups of four or above. We need to make sure that the adventurers we send will be safe." He overlooked us. "Hell, I doubt you'll come back. If you do, bring proof of the quadav, armour or something. If you manage, there's a big reward. 2000 gil for each piece." The unlikely group's jaws dropped.

"Let's go!" Cried Zinkata.

The thief led the way, happily jogging out of the city gates. Voldos followed, hand on his sword hilt already. Bootus followed, still seeming irritated at being forced into this group. Vivli took a nervous gulp, and then walked after them.

"There's something I still don't get." Bootus said as they journeyed across the desert. "Why were all those goblins attacked you, Voldos?"

"Not a clue." Came Voldos's response. "They said something about searching for somebody. That she had just arrived in Bastok. I thought I'd better stop them. A group of goblins entering the city would have caused chaos."

"Wonder who they were looking for." Zinkata mumbled to himself.

"Well, don't ask me." Vivli said quickly. "I don't know." They gave her suspicious glances.

In the darkness of a cave deep in the bowels of the earth, a black caped figure strode in, showing no fear. He dropped to one knee. A man known as Signot.

"My master, the goblins failed." Signot said to the shadows.

"No matter. She cannot hide forever." Boomed back the voice.

"She has teamed up with a group of adventurers." Signot told the voice. "Including an old friend of mine."

"Zinkata is of no concern to you anymore." The voice thundered. "The adventurers cannot protect her. She will be ours."

"They are headed to the mines. The quadav have quite a presence there." Signot explained.

"Excellent. Alert the quadav. Tell them the soldier that brings me the mithra will be rewarded greatly. Instruct them to kill the others." The voice instructed.

"Will they be able to finish them off?" Signot did not sound convinced.

"Even if the fools survive, she will still be captured. It matters not." The voice seemed to pause. "Now, Lord Signot, continue to watch them. Do not let them know of your presence or a fate far worse than any you knew was possible will await you beyond this realm."

"Yes, my lord."


	2. II

**PART II**

"_You have to go."_

"_I don't want to."_

"_It's not about choice. You have to. It's your duty."_

"_No it's not. There's plenty of people I can help around here."_

"_The apprentices can handle everything here. The real needy lie beyond these walls."_

"_But I'd be alone. It's scary. There are monsters and beastmen and things. I don't think I could handle that."_

"_You forget the old lessons. The first rule is that nobody in this world is alone."_

"_Out there you are. I am."_

"_You can go by choice, or we can kick you out. Leave now. Keep your dignity."_

"_You'd really throw me out?"_

"_Yes. Don't think it's because I don't like you. It's for the best."_

"_I don't want to go."_

"_We told you, it isn't about that."_

"_Goodbye then."_

"_Goodbye. Good luck. I'm sure you'll be fine."_

Vivli was doubled over panting. The party had voted to get to the mines before nightfall, and so had ran. Running across a desert wasn't easy, and Vivli hadn't been able to keep up. She had arrived quite some time behind them, lucky to not have encountered any creatures along the way, and was exhausted. To top this off, she was also embarrassed. The others stood without worry, Voldos in full armour, without a sign of fatigue. She could barely still stand up. She desperately wanted to hide this fatigue, keep it a secret. She didn't want them to look down upon her (any more than the physical aspects of their height difference made them).

"Ah, don't worry." Voldos said casually. "You'll get used to it."

"Yeah," Bootus surprisingly seemed to agree. "Besides, you've got to run twice as far as us." Vivli gave him a look of confusion. She didn't quite understand. "You're legs are about half the length of ours." Bootus explained. "I don't know why I bother being funny when nobody gets it." He added in a sigh.

"So what now?" Vivli managed to ask.

"We go into the mines, swords flailing, and kill things." Voldos announced.

"Aw nuts!" Zinkata suddenly cried. "I have no weapon."

"Oh yeah," Bootus snapped his mighty fingers, "You really should have brought one in Bastok."

"You can use my staff." Vivli offered him a small wooden stick. "I'll just be casting spells. I don't need it." Zinkata looked at it.  
"Actually, I think I'm better off with my hands." Zinkata said as tactfully as he could. Bootus lowered himself on one knee, bringing him to Vivli's height.

"Don't worry," He said patronisingly, "I'm sure your mum thinks it's a cool staff."

"Shut. Up." Vivli made sure each word was emphasised.

"Alive." Signot reminded the quadav leader.

"She'll be alive." The turtle-like beast replied. "Snap her legs. That'll stop her from running." He instructed to his troops.

"Be careful." Signot warned. "She's a White Mage. She can heal any wound."

"Let's see how well she casts spells with no arms, then, shall we?" Snarled the quadav.

"No risks." Signot stated. "If she dies, my master shall unleash a wrath upon you like none you know."

"Okay. No risks. I have no need to angry him. I am his faithful servant."

"Very good. Do not fail." Signot disappeared into the darkness.

"It's dark." Vivli pointed out the obvious.

"That it is." Voldos sighed.

"I hate the dark." Vivli whined.

"Wait. Aren't you mithra feline? Descended from cats? Can't you see in the dark?" Zinkata seemed confused.

"We can see better than most other races, apparently." Vivli explained. She didn't actually know, not having ever been another race obviously. "Doesn't make it any less scary."

"I'm sure there's no- BOO!" Yelled Bootus. Vivli let out a high pitched scream and leapt so high she almost hit the roof of the mines. Bootus let out a riotous laugh. Vivli was panting in horror.

"That was priceless!" Cried the galka cheerfully.

"Never _ever _do that again!" Screamed Vivli, stomping her foot.

"He might not get the chance." Voldos had drawn his sword. "I think you just called the entire quadav army to our location."

"Blame him! Not me!" Vivli yelled, pointing to the gigantic form of Bootus.

"Let's play the blame game later!" Zinkata screamed. "Battle stations!"

The leading quadav was cut down easily by Voldos as he pulled his sword up in a powerful swipe. Before he could get back into a defensive stance, another of the turtle men stabbed him with a spear. Voldos staggered back, bleeding. A white light engulfed him as his wound healed.

"Keep going!" Cried Vivli as she cast as many healing spells as she could. Voldos swung his sword around, finding it blocked by the turtle. He kicked it and it fell onto its back, comically struggling to get up. Bootus slammed his fists into another quadav so hard its shell cracked. He drove upwards and knocked it out. Zinkata ran and jumped over one, clawing on its back. It drove backwards with its spear only to find it stolen right out of its hands. Zinkata jumped down and thrust the spear into the back of the turtle. A blade of some kind cut him across the back. He turned and got stabbed.

The similar white light engulfed him, healing him. Bootus slammed two more turtles together with his powerful hands. Voldos cut one down, but got caught off guard, being stabbed in the leg.

"Heal, Li!" He cried as he stumbled.

"I can't!" Came the helpless reply. "I'm out!"

"Out?" Snarled Bootus as he fought on.

"Yeah, I can only cast a spell so many times. After that I need to refocus my energies to-"

"Then refocus!" Screamed the Galka.

"It's difficult in a battle like this!"

"Find a way!"

Vivli dropped down, focusing herself. She was trying to pray. She blocked out all external disturbances and focused on her own inner energies. Her own powers. She felt as if she was floating. As if something was carrying her off-

She was being carried off! Something had grabbed her.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" She let out a scream.

Too distracted to hear the screams of the tiny mage, the party battled onwards. They cut down the final turtles, bleeding and beaten.

"Whew. That was close." Voldos sighed, wiping blood from a cut on his mouth.

"Yeah, no thanks to Miss-" He spun around to see she was gone. "Hey, where'd the midget mage go?"

"Aw frack!" Cried Zinkata.

"Who cares?" Asked Bootus. "We have enough quadav armour there to prove they've taken the mines. We don't need her to claim the reward."

"Maybe not, but something doesn't add up." Zinkata began. "Quadav always kill their victims. They would never kidnap her, unless something else was driving them."

"So? Let the soldiers sort it out." Bootus said with a wild shrug.

"It could be too late." Zinkata pondered. "Something else is at play here."

"What do you care?" Asked Voldos. "You're a thief."

"If the quadav are being manipulated, you can guarantee something bad will happen." Zinkata stated. "And bad things are generally bad for me as well."

"Right now I don't care about his motivation. All I know is that if we don't act fast, she'll be dead." He paused. "Or worse."

"Gorramit! I hate you guys!" Bootus sighed.

Vivli finally opened her eyes. She hadn't been unconscious, just scared. She had to overcome what felt like a horrible force holding them shut just to be able to look out. She saw quadav. Dozens of them. One was talking to a figure in black.  
"There. One girl." Snarled the quadav.

"Well done." Stated the man in black. "Of course, you are aware her comrades will come for her."

"They will not." Came the reply. The man in black shot out a hand, grabbing the quadav by the neck.

"They will. It is in their nature. Kill them, and then hand her over. My master is not prepared to receive her yet." _Master? _Thought Vivli. She wasn't as clueless to the goings on as some may be led to believe, but even she had no idea who the master was.

The figure in black marched away without so much as a word. Vivli began to observe her surroundings. She was in cage. Just bars down an alcove in the cave. She walked forwards to them, and felt the bars. They weren't going to move.

"Sit down." Came a command from the darkness. She backed away in fear. "In fact, I'll just remove your legs, then you'll have no choice."

"No! Please! I won't do it again!" She begged.

"You bet you won't." The voice snarled.

"Bootus! Don't make her scream again!" Came a much more familiar voice.

"Aw, I was having fun." The snarling voice reverted back to the voice of Bootus. "Pleased to see you're as brave in the face of danger as ever."

"That was mean!" She exclaimed.

"As perceptive as ever too." Bootus laughed.

"Just get her out of there before the quadav catch us!" Snapped Voldos. Bootus grabbed hold of the bars and bent them with a groan of effort. He ripped the door open and Vivli quickly zoomed out, almost tempted to hug the galkan brute for saving her.

The four snuck away into a small dark passageway they had found. Bootus was hunched, bashing into the walls as he attempted to fit. Vivli was fully stood, and free to move easily. She giggled to herself. The four emerged from their hidden passageway out into a cave not too far from where they had come from.

"How did you guys ever see that?" Vivli asked in surprise, barely being able to notice the hole now they had emerged from it.

"A map is a useful tool." Bootus stated.

"Well, it would have been had be brought a torch so that we could see the gorram thing!" Voldos cried.

"Luckily we found this stick on the ground, and managed to set it on fire to provide light." Zinkata explained.

"Stick?" Vivli asked in a gasp, suddenly realising something. "Was it about this long?" She made the appropriate length with her hands.

"Yeah, why?" Asked Voldos.

"That was my staff!" She screamed. "I must have dropped it when they captured me!"

"You don't need it!" Snarled a quadav. The party span around to face what they assumed was one. It turned out to be more than they had ever seen, filling the cave.

"HOLY SH-" Voldos began.

"RUN!" Exclaimed Zinkata, before he could finish. The party turned and fled as fast as they could. The turtles hurtled after them.

Zinkata led the way, having much experience in putting as much distance between something following him and himself as possible. Voldos wasn't far behind, giving up on guiding himself and just throwing himself down the tunnel with his own weight. He bounced off the cave walls like an out of control mine cart. Bootus filled the third slot quite nicely, and even if Vivli could have run fast enough she couldn't have overtaken the gigantic galka as he blocked the entire passageway. It didn't matter. She was lagging behind again, and the quadav were gaining on her.

Bootus let out an irritated sigh and turned around, lifting the mithra above his head and running with her above him.

"I feel violated." Commented the tiny mage. The party continued to run until they reached the exit. Zinkata leapt out dramatically in a forward role. Bootus hurled Vivli out the exit effortlessly. She flew further than Zinkata had leapt and slammed into the ground painfully. Voldos had stopped at the exit, sword drawn. He spun it around skilfully and cut the large wooden structural supports holding the entrance up. It caved in as he jumped back. It seemed they were safe.

"OW!" Whined Vivli, lying in a crumpled heap on the floor.

"I've never seen anything like that." Commented Zinkata. One of the rocks fell from the caved in entrance, and snorting could be heard quite distinctly on the other side. "Aw, felgercarb."

"Maybe we should keep moving." Voldos suggested.

"Lets." Bootus agreed through gigantic gritted teeth.

They stopped and collapsed on the sand once the mine was safely out of sight.

"So, care to explain that one, Vivli?" Bootus snapped. The little mage was panting too much to respond.

"I don't mean to sound like Bootus, but I think you owe us an explanation." Voldos said bluntly. Vivli looked up from her sat position.

"It's difficult to explain." She said. "I don't understand it myself."

"Well start understanding." Bootus snarled.

"I was trained as a White Mage within a monastery. I was risen shielded from the outside. All the other mages were allowed to leave. But not me. They said it was too dangerous. They never said why. And then, one day, somebody showed up at the camp with a message. That day they told me to leave. I didn't want to, but they told me I had to. To go to Bastok and make my way as an adventurer."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Asked Voldos, perhaps being a little dense.

"I left, like they said. But just before I started by journey, an old friend came running out. A man named Fiorel. A paladin. He had been like a father to me when I was younger, being trained." She paused, mostly for dramatic effect. "He told me that I wasn't safe. That the monsters of this world would be hunting me. He said he couldn't tell me why, but that it wasn't safe for me to stay anywhere alone."

"Great, so we've teamed up with a hunted mage." Cried Bootus.

"That doesn't make sense." Zinkata said curiously. "Monsters don't just hunt one person. They don't have the organisation."

"We can worry about it later." Voldos announced cheerfully. "We have these!" He held up a bag of armour. "One reward, here we come!"

"Master, they escaped." Signot said upon one knee.

"I know." Replied the voice. "Do you not think I have eyes in every part of this world?"

"I am sorry master. I did not mean to doubt your abilities." Signot was either nervous or sarcastic. It was hard to tell.

"She is proving difficulty to get to." The voice stated. "We need a way to strike at her."

"My master, what do you suggest?" Signot asked.

"There is one who we may be able to manipulate to our will." The voice told Signot. "The galka. He has no liking for the mage."

"That is true my lord, but he would never serve us." Signot explained. "He would never serve the forces of darkness."

"Unless he didn't know what they were." The voice finished. "He will be celebrating in the tavern tonight. Go Lord Signot, and deliver some hints. His drunken brain and anger will do the rest."

"It will be done, my lord."


	3. III

**PART III**

"_Now go forth."_

"_I will. You have trained me well."_

"_Have a safe journey."_

"_I don't intend to remain safe."_

"_Ha. You're skills will keep you safe. You're skills alone."_

"_You don't need to tell me this. We covered this almost twenty years ago."_

"_Good point."_

"_Well, goodbye. Go find yourself a new apprentice."_

"_What? The little runts these days?"_

"_I'm sure you'll find somebody. Goodbye, Sensei."_

"_Goodbye. Use your skills for good. Remember, you are honourable, and shall fight alone."_

Bootus shot Vivli an angry glance. What made the White Mage think she had the right to constantly heal him? He was a monk. Trained to fight alone. Pain was part of his profession. Apparently she didn't realise this. So he scowled at her. Instead of say, doing something sensible, and explaining this.

They were hunched around in the tavern. Celebrating their completed quest and wasting all the money they had just received. Well, Vivli had spent it on her adventurer's licence, but was still there. She had a little left after all. Zinkata was sat over in the corner, playing with his new dagger. More over, he was earning huge amounts of money by playing with his dagger. He was making bets he couldn't jump it between his fingers without stabbing himself. He had a lot of practice doing this, and so always managed to do it flawlessly. This left irritated tavern goers without much money, and made Zinkata rich.

Despite how he tried, Bootus couldn't see Voldos.

"Hey! Lora! You are the love of my life! I've known since the moment I saw you, that my entire life is dedicated to you!" Bootus heard the irritating voice of the elf.

"Are you for real?" Came the offended voice of a female human. Bootus turned to watch. Voldos, who seemed to _not _be drunk, was leaning on the bar, trying to look impressive. He was failing.

"As real as my love for you, baby." Voldos smiled. **SLAP! **He painfully rubbed his cheek. Bootus couldn't repress a small laugh. Vivli burst out laughing in a loud giggle and Zinkata was distracted enough to stab himself in the finger.

"OW!" He bellowed. Vivli giggled louder.

"I think she's wasted." Commented the barkeep.

"Isn't that the only drink she's had tonight?" Bootus asked, raising a gigantic eyebrow.

"I stand by my statement." The barkeep told Bootus.

Bootus downed his drink and hunched forwards. Somebody sat down next to him. A figure in a long black cloak.

"You don't look happy." The figure commented.

"I ain't." Bootus replied. "I somehow ended up working with this group of adventurers." He pointed out each of the idiots in turn.

"Why don't you just leave?" The figure asked.

"There are more jobs going for a band of adventurers. It makes more sense profit wise." Bootus said with a shrug.

"So why are you so miserable?" The figure knew what he wanted to get out, but was working towards it.

"It's that bloody White Mage." He pointed to Vivli, who was too drunk to notice. "I'm a monk. Trained to fight, to defend myself alone. Yet she keeps interfering. Healing me. Ruining my training. And to top it off, monsters seem to be hunting her. She's a threat to our entire team."

"Why don't you get rid of her?" The figure smirked as he asked.

"I can't. The others seem to want her around. They think we need a White Mage." Had Bootus been sober enough, he'd of known something was behind this conversation.

"Get rid of her discreetly then." The figure suggested.

"I don't want to kill her! Just get her off the team." Bootus's voice was almost too loud. The others almost overheard him.

"Then find another way to get rid of her." The figure spoke as if it was obvious. "I'm sure she's alone plenty of times. Just find her then and get rid of her. Threaten her. White Mages are usually cowards."

Bootus went into deep thought.

Vivli felt like she had been run over by a truck. At least, she would if trucks existed in Vana'diel. She crawled out of her bed and slammed to the floor of her mog house. The tiny moogle flew up to her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"It's a hangover." She groaned. "Look into it."

"Excuse me for saying so, but didn't you only have money for one drink?" The moogle asked.

"So I'm a lightweight!" She snapped, hauling herself to her feet.

"You know, most people don't spend their first night in their mog house horribly drunk." The moogle told her.

"Blame the others." She groaned, slipping into her robe.

She wondered out still half asleep, feeling the sun of Bastok blaze down on her. Something big moved into the way. The light faded away. She looked up to see the form of Bootus.

"Isn't it a little early for you to be bothering me?" She sighed.

"Not really." He seemed angry. He put his hand around her and pushed her along.

"Where we going?" She asked, slightly afraid, and unable to control her movements anymore.

"You'll see."

A gigantic airship slowly flew into Port Bastok. It touched down in the water.

"Wow. That was pretty awesome." Vivli had never seen an airship before, and was memorised by it.

"Want a closer look?" Bootus offered.

"Do I!" Exclaimed Vivli, sounding like an excited young child. Bootus picked her up by her neck and held her over the water.

"Feel free to tell me what it looks like from underneath." Bootus stated firmly.

"Whoa! Put me down! Please!" She screamed, kicking her legs about wildly. Nobody was about this early, and so her screams fell on deaf ears.

"And if you ever come back, I'll break every bone in your girly little body." He threw her down into the water before she could protest and turned away. Vivli splashed about wildly. She couldn't swim.

Some time later the group were fully gathered, minus the drowned mage.

"Where the hell is Vivli?" Snapped Zinkata wearingly.

"Probably still hungover." Voldos commented.

"She only had one drink!" Zinkata protested.

"Like I said, hungover." Voldos managed to repress his smirk to make the line sound funnier.

"Let's just move out. Mage or not." Bootus grumbled. "I hear they're looking for adventurer's to go into the highlands and bring back a crystal from the temple there."

"Sounds like a plan, but we can't go without Vivli." Voldos said.

"Sure we can." Bootus shrugged.

"We can at least go and tell the guard we're interested in the mission." Zinkata explained. "By then hopefully she'll have turned up."

The mission given to the squad was exactly as they had heard. Head to the highlands and retrieve a crystal. It sounded easy enough. Except for the fact they were a White Mage down. Vivli still hadn't turned up. Bootus didn't care of course.

"Let's move." He stated. "She misses out on the reward, that's fine by me. More for us."

"I guess so." Zinkata sighed.

"She probably buggered off anyway." The galka grumbled. "She seemed to have plenty of problems to stop her from sticking around." The unlikely trio walked out of the main gates of Bastok ready for their new quest.

"You know what I want?" Zinkata asked while the trio strolled along the desert road.

"Three hot girls, a pile of gold and a big mansion?" Voldos suggested.

"No. Well, yes. But that's not what I meant." Zinkata stumbled over his words. "I meant a fishing rod."

"A fishing rod?" Voldos repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, have you seen how much those fish sell for at the auction house?" Zinkata seemed to think that making the size of a fish with his hands would emphasis this.

"Don't you usually steal stuff instead of earn it honestly?" Bootus interjected.

"Well yes. But stealing fish just sounds plain pathetic." Zinkata shrugged.

"If you want a fishing rod, there's your chance." Voldos pointed to a goblin fisherman sat by the river.

"Let's go get 'im!" Zinkata announced.

The trio charged across the sandy plains and the goblin turned to see them stampeding towards him. Goblins are strange creatures, as you'd imagine. But they are strange for a good reason. Some can't fight and are easy picking for adventurers. Like the ones the party fought upon the mountain. And some are a little tougher. This goblin fell into the latter category. It pulled a bomb and hurled it at the charging group. They all felt the explosion and were knocked back. Voldos staggered to his feet and swung his sword blindly through the smoke. The goblin ducked under it and stabbed him in the shin. Voldos fell down, clutching his leg. Bootus roared and burst up, almost blocking the sun from the goblin's view. With a comical cry, the goblin flung itself at Bootus, and clambered onto his face. It lodged its dagger neatly in his head and the gigantic galka went down. Zinkata sighed and hurtled his dagger at the goblin. It hit it square between the eyes and the creature went down.

"Piece of cake." Smiled Zinkata.

"I think Bootus is hurt." Voldos managed to get out despite his own pain.

"Looks worse than that." Zinkata suddenly commented, looking at his fallen comrade. "If we don't get him to a healer fast he's going to die."

"Damn you irony!" Voldos screamed at the sky.

"We need to find one. Quickly." Zinkata explained. "But first, I want my fishing rod." He grabbed a hold of the goblin's fallen fishing rod and pulled on it. "Hey! Something's on the end."

"You caught something already?" Voldos gasped. "You're good at this." Zinkata hauled on the rod and pulled up the weight with it. It was Vivli.

"What the hell?" Cried Zinkata.

"Vivli! Talk about convenient!" Voldos exclaimed.

"Don't speak to soon! She ain't breathing!" Zinkata proceeded to beat her chest as per the methods of resuscitation. She eventually responded by throwing water up in his face with a painful cough.

"Vivli! You're alive!" Voldos cried happily. Vivli responded by choking uncontrollably. Zinkata pounded her on the back until she threw up a huge amount of water on the floor. "Bootus is badly wounded. He needs your help."

"Bootus." She managed to stumble out angrily. She crawled herself over to the fallen corpse, managing to pull herself up on top of what seemed like a mountain. She threw her hands around his neck and began to strangle him.

"No! Heal! Heal!" Voldos cried. Vivli, in all honesty, was too drained to muster up enough strength to actually cut off air for the mighty galka, and slumped down defeated.

"It was him." She managed to get out. "He threw me into the river. Left me to die."

"What?" Exclaimed Zinkata and Voldos together. They threw their glances between the two. Voldos stepped forwards.

"Can you heal him anyway?" He asked. "It is your job."

"But he threatened me. Said if he ever saw me again he'd kill me." She whimpered, still slumped on the floor.

"So you're going to fight fire with fire and let him die?" Voldos asked.

"I-" She paused. She couldn't. She had to heal him. She had taken an oath saying that she would. "I'll do it." She sighed.

It wasn't easy either. Magic required concentration. Something that was difficult when you were half-dead. Vivli poured into reviving Bootus all of her concentration and passed out. Her mind faded into blackness.

Vivli woke up feeling like she weighed a ton. She was in a mog house. She didn't think it was hers, but didn't know it well enough to be sure.

"What happened?" She groaned.

"Keep it down." A moogle ordered. "If somebody finds out master brought in another adventurer to his mog house there'll be hell to pay!"

"Who?" She whimpered.

"Master Bootus." Stated the moogle.

"Bootus?" Vivli exclaimed, crawling back against the wall and pulling her knees up to her chest, shaking. Bootus strolled in, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"What the hell are you doing?" Asked the gigantic galka.

"You're not going to hurt me?" She whimpered.

"Hurt you? I saved you!" He cried.

"You did?" She asked curiously.

"Voldos and Zinkata continued on our mission. I carried you back here to recover." Bootus explained.

"Why?"

"You saved my life. I owed you. Simple." He said with a shrug. "Besides, it takes a special kind of person to help somebody who had betrayed them." The galka seemed to have trouble getting his words out. "What I'm trying to say is-"

"Your welcome." Vivli finished, bailing him out. "Don't you miss out on the reward for the quest now?"

"Yeah, but it was better than letting you die." He said casually, before realising what he had said. "Ahem. Not that I care. Strictly to keep things even."

"Riiiight." Laughed Vivli.

"Signot!" Bellowed the voice. "This is getting ridiculous."

"I know, my master." Signot said on one knee. "Shall I deal with it personally?"

"Not yet. If they find out about you and survive, they will track us down and could jeopardize everything." The voice explained.

"So what then?" Signot asked. "What can we do?"

"We need to stimulate them into taking a more active role in the world. Only then will our forces be able to take them." The voice told Signot.

"What do you have in mind?" Asked the dark lord.

"Bring me Vatgit." The voice paused for a snarl. "It is time to commence the attack upon San D'oria!"


	4. IV

**PART IV**

"_You've learnt much."_

"_I do try."_

"_I mean, you've learnt enough."_

"_Enough?"_

"_Yes. I believe so."_

"_So what happens now?"_

"_You must find your own apprentice. Somebody for you to train."_

"_Sounds simple."_

"_Not quite. First we must clash blades."_

"_What?"_

"_My time is ending. I must die. This is your final test. En guard."_

Voldos had that feeling of impending doom that could only be brought about by the most evil and worrying things in life. He began to feel for the source in his heart, the source of the darkness. Then he saw Zinkata and all was revealed. He carried a warrior's sword.

"Hey, Voldos!" Cried the irritating human, "I don't suppose you feel like teaching me how to use one of these!"

"Aw nuts." Voldos spat.

"Come on. I want to be a warrior. To learn to fight properly. There's only so much my skill with a dagger can do." Zinkata was pretty close to getting down on his knee and begging.

"Fine." Sighed the elf. "Do you know how to use that thing?" He asked, gesturing to the sword.

"The extent of my knowledge is 'put the pointy bit in the other guy'." Zinkata explained.

"Right, means we can skip the first lesson." Voldos said sarcastically. "Well, the first thing you need is your stance…."

Blades waving was not an unusual sight in Bastok, so most ignored Voldos and Zinkata's training. Bootus watched with an unusual amusement as he passed by. The position of teacher came quite naturally to Voldos. Bootus put this down to his elvaan arrogance. He strolled away from the auction house, new purchases in hand. These included new gigantic metal claws for himself, and a new and improved gi to offer a layer of protection. He also carried a small cloth bag full of other items. Their purpose was less well known.

Despite the fact their relationship was supposedly patched up, Vivli still got a chill down her spine seeing the lumbering bulk of Bootus heading towards her. She gulped, and prepared herself for conversation, which wasn't too dissimilar to preparing herself for battle, she would just stand around and talk/chant in either situation.

"Hey." She managed to splutter at the giant.

"Don't look so scared." Bootus laughed. "I thought we were past the whole 'enemies' thing."

"You try being my height and not be scared of someone your size!" Vivli yelled.

"I don't think I _can. _I think I was bigger than you when I was born." Bootus laughed again.

"Yeah, you're a real joker." Vivli sighed wearingly.

"Look, if you're gonna moan, I won't give you what I've got in here." He put his hand into the bag and Vivli's eyes lit up. Fear and hatred would never stand in the way of the possibility of presents.

"Whatcha get?" She cried, dancing around like an excited young warrior who had just received her first sword.

"This." Bootus hurled to her a scroll and a tunic. The tunic landed over her head and buried her beneath it. She hurriedly moved it so she could see and looked at the scroll.

"Wow. A spell _and _a new tunic." She sounded genuinely surprised.

"Don't think I'm going mushy on you!" Snapped the galka. "I just-"

"-feel guilty about trying to kill me?" Vivli finished. Bootus remained silent. "I figured." She paused. "Thanks all the same."

Zinkata and Voldos now stood next to each other, wearing similar armour and wielding similar

weapons. They almost looked like clones.

"Guess now you need to put these skills into practice." Voldos told Zinkata.

"Sounds good. Any idea how?" The two were heading towards their mog houses to stash some of their more useless items before going out adventuring.

They stopped talking as they saw a large crowd gathered around a body at the bottom of the steps leading to their houses.

"What the-" Voldos began.

"Can't be a monster. They don't get inside city limits." Zinkata quickly said.

"Look!" Voldos cried, and they saw a figure fleeing the crime scene down an alley.

"After him!" Yelled Zinkata. "You take the alley, I'm on the roof tops!" As if he had had experience Zinkata hopped up some crates and clambered onto the roof.

Voldos sprinted down the alley after the stranger. He darted inside the metalworks, a gigantic factory like building. Voldos slammed off a wall in his pursuit, using all of his bodyweight to propel himself. Zinkata skidded to a stop on his rooftop pursuit and leapt onto the top of the metalworks, clambering towards the roof and the opening that was there. Voldos ran down the narrow corridor to see the brown robed figure jump on the lift. It ascended just before the elf could reach it. He jumped, grabbing the platform as it rose. The stranger just shrugged and stomped on his hands. The elf plummeted down and landed painfully on the ground. The figure sprinted up the steps and out into the open…

…where Zinkata slashed outwards with his sword. The figure jumped back, turning to run. He shot backwards, just as Zinkata followed. He reached the lift, but Voldos had arisen on it. The figure bolted past, knocking over the warrior and jumping. As he fell he turned and fired a fireball from his hands. The resulting damage caused the lift to take heavy damage and fall. Voldos leapt to safety, falling into Zinkata's arms as the lift plummeted and exploded below. The robed man disappeared.

"I really don't swing that way you know." Zinkata sighed as Voldos pulled himself away.

"Yeah, you're hilarious." The elf scowled. A member of the city guard came up behind them. He was largely built even for a galka.

"You two are pretty stupid." He said in a growl.

"I blame him, mostly." Zinkata quipped, pointing to the lanky elf.

"In fact, you might be stupid enough for a job I have in mind." The gigantic galka growled.

"Stupid you say?" Voldos repeated. "Well, that's him in."

"You see, with the monster threat, and now repairs to the metalworks, we're going to be pushed for guards to follow up this crime." The unlikely duo could see where this was going. "I mean, we'll chase him, but by the time we get around to it he'll be long gone."

"You want us to go after him?" Zinkata guessed.

"Pay'll be good." The galka explained. "Plus, judging by the commotion outside he murdered somebody. He needs to be brought to justice."

"Alright, we're in." Zinkata looked to Voldos, getting a nod in agreement. "We don't have another quest yet."

"Excellent." The galka saluted. "If you find anything, report it to a guard immediately.

The two casually strolled onto the scene of the crime, no longer bystanders but now active investigators.

"Stand back, please. Nothing to see here." Zinkata was enjoying his role of detective.

"Hm." Voldos made a grunt, looking at the fallen body. "There's no superficial wound suggesting murder. We're meant to think he died from the fall."

"Presumably by giving chase we provoked the killer into running and revealing his intentions." Zinkata stated the obvious for the audience gathered. He was enjoying getting into role.

"I wonder how he fell. Scare tactic?" Voldos suggested, not knowing quite what he meant by a 'scare tactic' was but he knew it sounded impressive.

"No. Look." Zinkata pointed to slight blackened ground at the top of the stairs. "This was where a magic attack impacted, knocking him down. Definitely a direct murder."

"Great." The two paused awkwardly. "Urm, what now?"

"I don't know! I'm usually on the supply side of crime." Zinkata shrugged.

"Well, don't look at me. I don't normally _think _about stuff." Voldos pointed out. "I just hit it."

"Guess the obvious thing would be to find out about this guy." Zinkata bent down and went through the fallen man's pockets, slipping fifty gil into his own pocket and pulling out a bottle. "Ah ha!" Deduced the thief.

"A bottle?" Voldos said sceptically.

"Yes Voldos. A bottle." Zinkata was stunned by his partner's awesome detective skills. "Where do bottles come from?"

"The bottle factory?" Voldos suggested.

"The tavern!" Zinkata cried. "We'll head to the tavern. We'll see what we can get people to tell us about this guy. Maybe somebody had a motive there. Maybe somebody knows him. Let's see what we can find out."

Vivli was preoccupied with the more trivial concerns of learning how to perform the spell 'protect' while the not-so-dynamic duo tried to solve a crime. She was chanting quietly to herself within the safety of her mog house before unleashing the spell upon her favourite vase, to make sure it would stay safe from harm. Instead of protecting it, the blue shield rocketed inwards, causing it to implode. She let out a half whine, barely able to communicate her thoughts into verbal noise. She looked at the scroll, and turned it up the right way. _Okay, let's try this again._

Bootus was preoccupied also. He had been strolling to the goldsmith's guild, planning to get to work to make some money. Sadly, he had run into a young tarutaru dancing in the street along the way, and become helplessly preoccupied. The gigantic galka watched the tiny midget dance, throwing coins to keep it up. He couldn't help it. It was far too amusing to break away from.

Away from these two trivial storylines, Voldos and Zinkata were working hard to solve their little mystery. It had taken a few hours, but the two warriors had assembled all the information they could. The victim was a male hume, aged 44, worked at the blacksmith's guild, was a loner, rarely had any friends, very introvert, rarely discussed his emotions and had no enemies. This came from a combination of talkative tavern goers and the official records from the guild.

"So, all we've done is eliminate the possibilities of any suspects?" Voldos asked.

"Pretty much." Zinkata sipped a drink. The two were in the tavern.  
"I mean, if you were going to murder someone and not get caught, this guy is perfect!" The elf cried in exasperation. "Maybe we should leave this to the professionals."

"There is the possibility of money in this." Zinkata reminded Voldos.

"I suppose. So what now?" Asked Voldos.

"I say we sleep on it." The thief suggested. The two strolled out of the bar…

…And onto the scene of another murder. They quickly pushed past the crowd to see a female hume lying dead. Her chest was scorched.

"Another one!" Exclaimed Voldos.

"But this was more direct. Is he getting sloppy or something else?" Zinkata asked.

"I don't think that matters." Voldos muttered, looking sadly at the dead body. "We need to catch this guy before he kills again."

It was the following afternoon when Voldos and Zinkata met up to compare case notes.

"What've you got?" Asked Voldos.

"Well, she regularly adventured in a party of three. I talked to the other two. They regularly fought monsters, she could have had many enemies, but none they could think of, was quite able to defend herself and fairly experienced. What did you get?"

"Simple facts. Age, 21. Profession, Black Mage. Belonged to the goldsmith and the blacksmith guild. Didn't drink. Didn't have a residence in Bastok. Hailed from Windurst." Voldos summed up. "Which gives us a problem."

"It does?" Zinkata didn't seem to spot it.

"One's male, one's female. There's a twenty year age gap. One's a loner and one has a party. Neither had met. One spent his nights at the tavern, one didn't drink. One lived here, one didn't. One was an adventurer, one was a smith. Both murders took place at drastically different locations, a fairly public road leading to the mog house and outside the tavern in the afternoon. There is no link." Voldos took in a deep breath after that.

"No link…" Zinkata repeated.

"It seems to be random killing. They were both human, but that could just be coincidence. Or maybe some killer with a grudge against humes. Maybe some kind of disfigured tarutaru or something." Voldos suggested.

"Voldos. We chased him. He was tall. Remember?" Zinkata sighed.

"Oh yeah." Voldos murmured.

"Wait a second!" Zinkata clicked his fingers. "Form it into the list, and there is one link. One reoccurring theme."

"What?" Asked Voldos quickly.

"Think about it. No links between the victims, and apparently no links between the locations. Except one."

"Which is?" Voldos prompted.

"Us." Zinkata stated bluntly. "After each crime we were there, almost instantly. Like the crimes took place as close to us as possible. _And _to make matters more suspicious, the man in the cloak seemed to let us see him and give chase, instead of escaping quickly. Why hang around at the crime scene?"

"Are you saying _we're _the prime suspects?" Voldos asked.

"No. I'm saying he wanted us to see him."

"What does that mean?" Voldos found himself asking questions again.

"It means we got given this job. To track down the murderer." Zinkata said, getting passionate. "He is murdering so we get to chase him."

"Why?" Voldos asked, shrugging in confusion.

"To help us gain favour with the guards?" Suggested Zinkata.

"Don't be stupid." Voldos said bluntly.

"Or to keep us busy?" Zinkata thought. "We're working like crazy on this case without a thought for much else."

"Busy from what?" Voldos shrugged again. "We don't do anything."

"True." Zinkata admitted. "It would make sense if we were protecting something or someone but-" They both froze.

"OH FRACK!" They cried in unison.

Vivli had stormed out of her mog house, having smashed just about everything in her quest to perfect her spell. Even the moogle had been yelling at her. She marched for a moment before getting an unusual feeling of unease. Like somebody or something was following her. Watching her. She turned, but the streets were so busy she couldn't see anything anyway. She walked a bit further before somebody grabbed her from behind and dragged her into an alleyway. She tried to scream but her mouth was covered.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." She was thrown to the floor and came face to face with a brown robed man. He threw off the robe to reveal a man in black armour, an elf with a long flowing black cape and a sword that shone with magic energy. A dark knight.

"K-k-kill me?" She stammered.

"Hurt you at least." He snarled. "My superiors want you alive." _Oh nuts, _thought the mage. "Keeping your friends busy was easy. It's surprising what a tarutaru in your pay and few murders can achieve." He laughed, picking her up in one hand. She started whispering. "What are you doing?" He asked irritably.

"PROTECT!" She cried, and blue shield popped around her. This caused the dark knight to drop her and she reached for her staff. Her staff she had forgotten to replace. "Frack." She mumbled. Vana'diel had some really poor swearwords.

"Hehehe, goodbye little girl." He drew his gigantic sword, apparently forgetting his mission to capture her alive.

"Not so fast!" Zinkata dramatically cried from the roof of a building overlooking the alleyway.

"Curses!" Cried out the dark knight, and he turned to flee. He ran, but Voldos was stood there with his sword drawn. He swung outwards and the knight blocked, parrying Voldos's sword down. He kicked the elf away, but Zinkata leapt down heroically and landed behind him. He pulled his sword across, parrying the blade of the dark knight. Voldos threw a punch, not bothering to lift up his sword. He struck the dark knight, and he stumbled back. Zinkata swept down, grabbing his legs and lifting him up. He crashed down to the floor. Voldos leapt on top of him and hit him until he no longer moved. The two lifted up his dead weight with beaming smiles.

"Oh yeah!" Cried Voldos.

"I'll go get a city guard to lock him up for good." Zinkata stated, leaving the alley.

Zinkata and Voldos both eyed the bag of 3500 gil proudly.

"We earned that." Voldos beamed.

"That we did." Zinkata smiled. Vivli was staring at the floor.

"Urm. Thanks. Guys." She managed to say, slightly embarrassed at the situations she kept finding herself in.

"No problem. Thanks to you we got this reward!" Zinkata cried.

"So really it's my reward?" She said with a cautious smile.

"Yeah right!" Exclaimed the elf.

As they walked down the path back to their homes, they caught site of Bootus, still mesmerised by the dancing tarutaru. Vivli sighed.

"Come on!" She snapped, trying to grab him by the ear to drag him, but finding herself much to short. Voldos sighed and dragged him himself.

"OW! OW!" Exclaimed the galka rather humorously, "Let go! Let go!" He added in a childish whine. The others couldn't repress a girlish giggle.

"My master." Signot was on one knee as usual. "The dark knight failed. They stopped him."

"Oh no, my dear lord Signot, his mission was quite accomplished." The bellowing voice replied.

"My lord?" Asked Signot curiously.

"His capture and defeat has risen the band of adventurers she hides behind high in the opinion of the guard. They will be considered for any future mission that is dangerous now. Especially with their past deeds."

"You're plan, my master?" Signot dared to ask.

"Order the orcs to launch the attack on San D'Oria." The voice began to cackle. "Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen…."

Vivli lay awake sprawled on her back. A copy of the Vana'diel Tribune lay on her floor. On the front were two drawings of the deceased. They had been killed in this foul game to capture her. Whenever she shut her eyes she saw Voldos, Zinkata and Bootus dead. Were they next? How many more would die to keep her safe? She shivered at the thought. And always kept her eyes open.


	5. V

**PART V**

"_And so, it's coming to town."_

"_So what? There's no way we can get it."_

"_Yeah there is. It's simple."_

"_Simple?"_

"_Kinda."_

"_You want to steal Uggalepih's crown?"_

"_It's a piece of cake. We just need somebody who wont be spotted by the town guards."_

"_Oh dear."_

"_Yeah, that means you."_

Zinkata flung on his dark blue t-shirt and black trousers without even taking in the surrounding area of his mog house. His armour rested in the corner, but he didn't see the point in wearing it for another lazy day in town. He didn't even notice the small envelope lying on his floor.

"Sir!" Buzzed the moogle. "Look!" He fluttered around with the letter. Zinkata snatched it and walked out the door. "How rude." Muttered the moogle.

Dear Sir,

The President of the Republic of Bastok has heard of your deeds and requests the presence of you and your party. He has a mission of the utmost importance that he has considered you appropriate for. He orders you to report to him as soon as it is possible. This is not optional.

Yours Faithfully,

Lord Grathak

Zinkata blinked once. Twice. A third time. Had he read that right? The irritating fancy writing made it difficult, and he couldn't quite come to terms with what he had read. The president? They hadn't done that much to deserve an audience with the president. Either way he decided to relay this information to the others instantly.

They met around the auction house as per usual. This was what they usually did. Bootus was sat glumly on the edge of the gigantic fountain, staring off into the distance. Apparently thinking about how bored he was, or the lack of tarutarus in the area. Voldos was trying to barge his way to the auction house itself, but failing miserably. Vivli looked unusually pale. White even. She swung on her feet as if she barely had enough energy left to stand up. Gigantic black rings under her eyes suggested she was suffering from a lack of sleep. It was perhaps odd then that Zinkata didn't actually notice any of these factors and just announced rather loudly for the party to gather round.

They assembled, getting strange looks from all around.

"Look." Zinkata stated, holding the letter out. Voldos pondered it as Bootus bent down for a closer look. Vivli jumped once or twice and gave up, waiting for him to lower it to her height.

After he had done so and it had sunk in, the party just stared blankly.

"The president." Vivli repeated blankly.

"Wow." Muttered Voldos. "We must be doing something right."

"Or it's a suicide mission and he needs some foolish adventurers." Zinkata pointed out.

"Well, we don't have choice." Bootus grumbled. "I suggest we head to the president's office right away. Wouldn't want to keep him waiting."

The unlikely crew stood awkwardly assembled in the office of the most powerful man in Bastok. He stood before them, surveying them like they were prisoners. He was a bald male human, and slightly shorter than Zinkata. He walked up to the party, making sure he was stood before Vivli to give the affect of status through height differences, and began to speak.

"Ahem. My comrades from San D'Oria," The word 'comrades' was said bitterly enough to let the adventurers know he despised them (a veiled insult to Voldos as well), "Have alerted me that they have fallen under attack from the beastmen." Voldos was taken back by this. "For this reason, I have agreed to send a party out to offer aid to maintain relations. This party is to be you. You are to journey to San D'Oria, and offer aid in anyway you can."

"That's all?" Zinkata asked. "Then we return?"

"You will address me as Mr President at all times!" Snapped the President. "And no, you will not return, by continue directly to Windurst. You're official mission is to offer aid and improve relations, but I want a full report of their status when you return."

"So we're spies?" Voldos asked angrily, adding a bitter: "Mr President." On the end.

"Not exactly. I just want to know where we stand compared to the other nations." The President turned about. "That is all." The party looked at each other uneasily and exited the office.

They were sat around on the steps outside. The guards did their best to ignore them.

"San D'Oria!" Cried Vivli for about the fifth time. "I only got here a week ago."  
"How do you think I feel?" Asked Voldos. "I left there to come to Bastok for the very reason I have to return there."

"What?" Asked Bootus curiously.

"I was supposed to assess Bastok's standing as a city before returning, but I found myself registering here as an adventurer and working instead. I suppose I'll be seen as a rebel when I return, having betrayed them."

"But San D'Oria!" Vivli cried again. "And then Windurst! Windurst!"

"What about Windurst?" Asked Zinkata, only so she would stop repeating it.

"It's my home." She stated.

"So?" Bootus said, barely interested.

"So what am I going to say to my parents? They sent me away and then I come crawling right back!" The others laughed. They were a band of hardened mercenaries and Vivli was worried about what she was going to tell her parents.

"Your scared of what your Mummy might say?" Bootus asked patronisingly. "We're adventurers. I don't think the opinions of your parents come into it." Vivli folded her arms irritably as the others sniggered.

"You don't understand!" She tried to argue, but the others just laughed louder so she fell silent. Her 'parents' weren't the real problem at all. She had no idea who her real parents were. She was referring to her monastery that had sent her away, but found it easier just to use the word 'parents'.

"Well, I suppose we had better get ready to leave." Zinkata stood. "The President didn't set us a deadline, but I'm sure he doesn't want us hanging around here."

"Yeah, we had better grab our equipment." Voldos agreed.

"San D'oria!" Vivli cried again, and the others rolled their eyes.

They were soon equipped and on the road, walking through the desert. Vivli swung a small paddle around in her hands, her new staff.

"Wow. This thing is _really _light." She said aloud for no other reason than to be irritating. Or make conversation.

"With you, it would have to be." Bootus commented.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She gasped.  
"Oh, I was calling you weak. Didn't realise you were stupid as well." Vivli fumed silently, and the others tried desperately to repress a laugh. At least Bootus and Vivli were back to normal.

"I'm guessing I'll get insulted further if I ask where we're going." Vivli said, hoping they wouldn't insult her and tell her anyway.

"Yes. Yes you would." Bootus enjoyed annoying the little White Mage.

"We're heading through the Highlands to the Dunes. Remember Seblina? You must have come from Windurst that way." Zinkata was surprised she had forgotten the way she had come from.

"Oh, the little fishing town? Yeah!" She seemed a bit more confident now she knew what was going on.

"Figure it can be our first stop." Zinkata told her.

"Sounds good. Let's keep moving." Voldos decided to say something because he was feeling very left out and lonely. That happened sometimes.

"My lord, our assault on San D'Oria failed. We were repelled by their troops." Signot explained.

"Failed?" Boomed the voice. "Sometimes you surprise me, Lord Signot. It was not a failure. Oh no. It was the beginning of the ultimate success. It will lure her to San D'Oria, and then further to the orc camp. There she will become ours."

"You trust Vatgit?" Signot asked sceptically.

"No. I trust you. You will handle this personally Lord Signot. I want no failures."

"Yes, my master." Signot bowed and left the cave.

"I hate goblins." Voldos commented casually as one stabbed at him. He parried it aside and sliced it in the face. It staggered back before throwing its tiny blade. The blade lodged into Zinkata's armour. Apparently the slice in its face made it hard to tell who was who.

"OUCH!" The newly turned warrior yelled.

"Hold still!" Cried Vivli as she began to cast a cure spell. The goblin ran towards her. "Get that thing away from me!"

"Hey fugly! Over here!" Yelled Voldos, and the creature turned around. It ran at Voldos, but Bootus leapt in and knocked it over with a firm punch. Voldos drove his sword through it and it died. Vivli reached up to the dagger lodged in Zinkata. She took hold of it and pulled on it.

"OOOOOOOOW!" Exclaimed the human.

"Oh, stop complaining." Vivli pulled on the dagger and yanked it out. Zinkata screamed girlishly. Vivli landed on the floor with the bloody dagger. She quickly cast another cure spell to shut the warrior-cum-thief up.

"Thank the heavens." Cried Bootus. "You _are _good for something after all."

"Shut. Up." Vivli made sure each word was expressed clearly. Zinkata observed his armour.

"Well, crap." He muttered, removing it. The large hole around the shoulder made it structurally weak, and pointless to still wear. He had a huge cut where he had been stabbed, and blood oozed all over his now bear body. A gigantic scar was on his other shoulder.

"How'd you get that other one?" Vivli asked, trying to avoid embarrassment at the fact she was now staring at Zinkata half naked.

"Long story. Quite dull. You don't want to hear it." Zinkata summed it up neatly.

"You can't say that then _not _tell us." Vivli complained.

"Yes I can." Zinkata stated, digging his t-shirt out of his satchel of collected items and putting it on.

"Oh come on! That's not fair!" Vivli protested.

"She's not going to shut up. Please. Tell her." Bootus seemed to speak through gritted teeth. "I am not putting up with this all the way to San D'Oria."

"Fine." Zinkata sighed. "A few years back, an expedition unveiled an interesting artefact. They took it back to Bastok. The crown of Uggalepih."

"Wow. What a name." Laughed Bootus.

"He's an evil deity." Vivli shouted. "Don't you know anything about religion?"

"I try not to." Bootus replied.

"Anyway, we agreed to try and steal it. It was worth millions of gil after all." Zinkata continued to explain.

"We?" Voldos managed to pick up on this.

"I was raised by a street thief. I was about eighteen at this time, and he's the one who came up with the idea. But he was too well known by the guards to pull it off. So I did it."

"And you got caught and wounded?" Vivli guessed.

"Oh no. Got away with. Pissed a lot of people off." He paused. "But I was betrayed. The man who had raised me for eighteen years turned on me and tried to kill me, stealing the crown."

"Ouch." Voldos involuntarily said.

"He stabbed me with a dagger in my shoulder and hurled me off a cliff. I was lucky enough to be found by another squad of skilled adventurers. Their White Mage saved me." He finished with a painful look on his face.  
"I can't believe he betrayed you after eighteen years." Vivli gasped, seemingly struggling to understand betrayal.

"Oh, I can. Signot was a crafty one."

Signot stood proudly beaming over the assembled orcs. They would give a challenge, but he hoped that they wouldn't kill the adventurers. Well, they could kill the elf and the galka. It was Zinkata he wanted to see again. To see the built up rage. To see them confront each other again and battle. It would be beautiful. Of course, he was more powerful than Zinkata could possibly imagine now, but it would be fun to toy with him again. To watch as he continues to try futilely for revenge. He laughed manically at the thought, much to the surprise of the orcs.

"Frackin' goblins!" Cursed Voldos. "Do the beastmen have no originality?"

"I'm sure they'd send some orcs after you if you asked nicely." Bootus patronised.

"I blame Vivli. They keep attacking her." Zinkata commented.

"Not my fault! They hate me for some reason!" She protested.

"_I hate you for some reason._" Bootus pointed out.

"I noticed." She grumbled.

"Probably all the healing." Zinkata mumbled.

"Yeah, I can see that annoys them, over, say, you guys killing them brutally." She was being heavily sarcastic.

"Monster. We should be fighting." Voldos pointed a finger at the tiny goblin. The goblin was waiting patiently.

"Oh, fine." Grumbled Zinkata. He swung his sword at the goblin and it jumped back. A large white temple was in the background, creating a nice dramatic backdrop. They had made the highlands at least.

Voldos swung his sword at the goblin, but the tiny creature deflected it with his own blade. Dramatic sparks flew everywhere.

"Wow. Sparky." Vivli commented, before going into what appeared to be deep thought.

"Wow. What were the chances of that?" Voldos said with a laugh.

"Can we get around to killing the goblin?" Zinkata asked with a sigh.

"I think we should protest until we fight something more original." Vivli suggested, earning an angry look from Bootus.

Of course, killing the goblin didn't take too long, and they were soon victorious.

"I suddenly think getting to San D'Oria won't be a problem." Voldos commented.

"I agree, Sparky." Vivli said, deciding to test out her new nickname for the elf.

"What did you just call me?" Was his response.

"Sparky. Well, you made sparks. I think it fits." Vivli nervously explained.

"It makes him sound like a character from a children's story!" Bootus pointed out, pausing. "So yeah, it fits." He added with a sly smile.

"Hmm. It's getting late." Zinkata observed as the sun began to sink behind the hills.

"Why don't we set up camp then?" Vivli asked.

"We could cover a lot of ground by nightfall." Zinkata pointed out.

"Yeah, and we could run into ghouls and ghosts and things." Vivli whimpered. Of course, this wasn't some kind of bizarre fear of the supernatural, they were a very real threat.

"I hate to say it, but she's got a point." Bootus conceded. "Goblins we can handle, but I've heard some nasty stories about what ghouls can do. One once attacked Seblina, and every adventurer there battles for hours to kill it. It just kept draining their energies to stay alive. Quite a few people died I believe." Vivli shivered at hearing this. "Wuss." Bootus added under his breath. The others tried there best to look like they didn't care.

Despite this bravado, they soon found themselves setting up a tent, although not a single one was willing to admit they were actually scared. Vivli found this hilarious, mystifying the others by continually giggling to herself.


	6. VI

**PART VI**

"_You shall never use your magic to inflict harm unless absolutely necessary. Nobody deserves to die, no matter what they've done. Never will you kill. Never shall you allow somebody to die when it can be prevented. You shall never draw a bladed weapon. They are the symbol of death. You are life. Remember these lessons. It is how you shall live the rest of your mortal life."_

Vivli was irritated even in sleep. She was dreaming of her days at the White Mage Monastery, instead of say, discovering a house made entirely out of food or seeing Bootus on fire. She always seemed to get the short end of the stick when it came to dreams.

To top it off, her instructor seemed to be yelling at her for some reason. Something about waking up. Now he was saying something about he didn't want to have to carry her. She was fairly puzzled.

"WAKE UP DAMMIT!" Bootus yelled. Vivli jolted awake, inside the tent.

"Aw, but it's early." She groaned.

"It's sometime in the afternoon!" Snapped the galka. She sat upright.

"What?" She was moderately caught off guard.

"You sleep heavy." He told her.

"I-I was tired!" She stammered. "I didn't sleep the night before. It meant-"

"Can the excuses. We need to get moving." Bootus marched out of the tent. Vivli hurriedly threw on her robe and attempted to get her bearings.

"There. Told you I could be tactful." Bootus said triumphantly to the two warriors.

"Still say we should have carried her. It would have been quicker. And she doesn't exactly look heavy." Zinkata sighed. Vivli stumbled out of the tent to angry glances.

"Sorry." She said, embarrassed.

"Right, now let's get the hell out of here. We're down on time and have miles to go." Voldos seemed to be taking charge. "There are dunes we have to cross next. And let's just say I've heard enough stories to make me want to get through there as quickly as possible."

"I've actually been there!" Vivli beamed brightly. The others ignored her.

"Wow. I love the beach." Vivli cried as they trekked across the dunes.

"Yeah, but it's better when it's not populated by monsters." Zinkata pointed out.

"Aw, ruin my fun." The White Mage grumbled.

"Dammit! Why do you elves live so far away?" Bootus yelled to Vivli as the party strolled across the sand. The heat blazing down on the sand was keeping them so hot they were struggling to stay conscious. Vivli took off her robe easily, leaving a small white top underneath. Voldos grumbled and wished his armour was as easy to slip off in this heat.

A small fishing village shimmered in the distance. At least the entrance. The heat made it hazy.

"Can we stop by there?" Vivli was the only one willing to ask, but they were all thinking it.

"Urm. Yeah, let's stop by. Dunno how long you can keep this up." Bootus said uneasily, trying to make it seem like he was fine as he was.

"Yes. Me." She repeated flatly.

"Well, it can't do any harm. Least we'll be safe from the monsters and can plan our next route." Zinkata nodded as he spoke, and the party headed towards it.

Some time later most of the party were slumped in various parts of Seblina, the tiny fishing town. Bootus raised a gigantic eyebrow as Vivli marched angrily by him.

"I can't believe him!" She snapped, pointing to an old man stood overlooking the ocean. "He just called me 'little girl'! Nobody calls me that and gets away with it!"

"We do it all the time." Bootus pointed out. Vivli opened her mouth, as if she had a counter point, but nothing came out. Bootus laughed. Zinkata strolled past, smiling.

"And what are you so happy about?" Bootus inquired.

"Fish!" He held one up. "Check it out! Pretty successful huh?"

"Dunno. Ask me again if you manage to sell it." The gigantic galka smirked.

"Can I have a go?" Vivli asked, motioning to the fishing rod.

"Knock yourself out." Zinkata passed her the fishing rod and she ran down to the shoreline, excited.

"Do you think her mental age has hit double figures yet?" Bootus asked. Zinkata couldn't think of a reply, and so left it hanging.

"Dammit!" Vivli cursed as the third fish got away from her line. "I'm never going to catch anything."

"Stop moaning and enjoy the view." Voldos was staring out across the ocean. "Look, the ship's coming in."

"I always loved the sea." Zinkata said as he walked down to join them. "Look at how fast that boat is coming in, yet they have it under control. Isn't that impressive?"

"Wow, it is coming in pretty fast." Vivli remarked.

"Too fast." Bootus suddenly said, running down to join them.

"It's on a collision course with Selblina!" Vivli exclaimed, pointing out the obvious.

"We need to stop it!" Bootus did the same.

"Okay, quick!" Voldos rushed into the nearby weapons shop.

"This is no time to be shopping!" Vivli called after him.

Voldos ran out with a crossbow and a length of rope.

"That's never going to work." Zinkata commented as he fired the arrow. By some miracle, it attached to the ship.

"Hold this." Voldos instructed, handing the rope to Bootus. Bootus held it taught as the boat approached. Voldos bent down and pulled Vivli's staff off of her belt.

"Hey! I just got that!" She protested, but Voldos ignored her. He put it over the rope, and advised Bootus to climb higher up. He did so, and Voldos used the rope and staff to slide down to the ship.

He landed on the deck with a crack. At first he thought he was injured, but quickly discovered he had just broken Vivli's staff.

"Oh boy." He sighed. "I'm not looking forward to explaining this one." This short piece of self narration stopped as he realised the ship was mere moments away from crashing into Seblina. He bolted into the bridge and turned the ship. It turned, but far too slowly. Voldos shut his eyes as the ship scratched along the port, ripping apart the ground and tearing up the fence that separated the land from the sea. Major damage to Seblina however was avoided.

Voldos sighed in relief as he turned the boat. A roar eliminated this promptly. He turned to see on deck a gigantic squid like creature. A monster of legend. A Sea Horror.

"HOLY FRACK!" He exclaimed as one of its monstrous tentacles tore into the bridge. Voldos bolted out the side door, meaning that the ship, of course, was now out of control. It slammed headfirst into the rocky cliff face just to the side of Seblina, and Voldos was thrown overboard.

"Quick! Somebody dive in and get him!" Zinkata yelled.  
"I can't swim!" Vivli protested.

"And I'd be too heavy." Bootus excused himself.

"Oh, I hate you guys." Zinkata sighed as he pulled off him armour and dived in.

Surprisingly, the water was refreshing, but Zinkata had no time to dwell on that now. He swam out as fast as he could to the ruins of the ship, now beginning to sink. He saw Voldos swimming towards him, but it was the deafening roar that drew his focus. The Sea Horror was close behind the elf, now back in its natural habitat. Zinkata grabbed Voldos by the arm, and the two swam as fast as they could from the lethal tentacles of the monster.

It was clear they weren't going to escape, and they couldn't even curse at their inevitable death because they were under water. Voldos let out a gurgled yelp as he felt something sharp slice into him leg. A tiny hook. His eyes went wide and bubbles escaped his mouth as he recognised it.

"Bootus! Help!" Vivli was gripping the fishing rod, and being pulled in. Bootus ran in, grabbing the rod as well, and two hauled on it. Zinkata and Voldos, holding each other and the hook beneath the waves, were pulled to the side. Vivli quickly bent down to give them a hand up, but when they accepted they just ended up pulling her in instead.

"Dammit!" She gurgled, splashing about in the water. Voldos pulled himself out, and Zinkata helped Vivli up before she drowned. "I hate being light." She commented, drenched.

It was rather convenient the tentacle smashed down between the four, instead of on one of them. The Sea Horror pulled itself out of the ocean, and the party ran in fear.

"We're dead!" Vivli yelped.

"Wish I could say it was a pleasure," Bootus yelled while running, "But my only wish is you die before me so I can enjoy it."

"Touching." Voldos smirked as he jumped out the way of a tentacle.

Luckily the tentacle was no longer attached to the Sea Horror. A figure in white was attacking it. He sliced through two more tentacles before the beast turned away and splashed back into the ocean. He turned around to face the party. He had fairly rugged brown hair, and a scar running down the right side of his face, running vertically. His armour was white, with gold trimming and a long white cape flowed behind him. He seemed quite old, most likely in his late forties. A human. He slipped his long silver sword back into its sheath.

"Fiorel!" Vivli screamed, running in to hug him.

"Fiorel?" Asked Bootus.

"You really should pay more attention." Zinkata told the galka. "It's that paladin she was on about."

"Whoa, kid. Let go." Fiorel laughed as the mage backed away. "You sure have a knack for getting into situations. I don't even want to think about how much the damage here will cost."

"Hey, it's cheaper than what would have happened without us." Zinkata said with a shrug.

"You have a point." Fiorel sighed. "I guess I can't catch the boat to Windurst anymore though."

"Means you can hang around with us!" Vivli cried cheerfully.

"Ha. I'm afraid not." Fiorel laughed. "There are some fairly major issues at hand here."

"Like?" Voldos asked.

"Monsters are getting unusually aggressive. I've never heard of one wiping the crew off of a ship before." _They're getting smart. They would have got her had it not been for me. _Fiorel's secret thoughts went completely unnoticed. "So kid, where you headed?"

"I'm seventeen! Don't call me that!" Vivli protested.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Fiorel laughed again. He was beginning to irritate Zinkata.

"San D'Oria if you must know. Bastok sent us." She gestured to the rest of the party.

"San D'Oria?" Fiorel dropped into thought. "This to do with the orc attacks?" She nodded. "I just came back from helping them defend. Be careful kid, it's pretty dangerous." Vivli just grumbled silently.

"Wait. That's it?" Zinkata asked quickly. "You just show up and then you're going to disappear?"

"I'm on my way to Windurst. I need to see somebody there." He paused with a weary sigh. "Adventure some more and you'll learn coincidences like this happen."

"Don't suppose we can buy you a drink for saving us?" Zinkata offered.

"I never turn down free drink." Fiorel replied with a laugh. Zinkata knew this was a good opportunity to squeeze some information out of him.

Except Vivli wouldn't go away. It seemed her reunion with Fiorel meant that she didn't want to let him out of her sight.

"You remember that time-" Vivli was about to start on _another _nostalgic memory with Fiorel (which Zinkata had had plenty enough of)

"Hey, Vivli, why don't you go get your staff off Voldos?" _That should keep her away for a bit._

"Good idea! I'll be right back!" She ran away from the table with all the energy of a hyperactive child.

"To business." Zinkata stated. "What's going on?"

"Figured you would ask." Fiorel told him. He picked up the drink and looked at it. "Nothing's ever really free, is it?"

"No games." Zinkata stated. "Tell me, now. What's going on with Vivli?"

"It's not an easy question to answer." Fiorel told Zinkata. "I don't know it all myself, but I can fill you in at least partially. Almost sixteen years ago, when I was a young adventurer like you and your friends, I was called back to The Monastery, the place of my training as a paladin, by the head priestess of the Order of White Mages. She wanted me to help look after and raise this young girl they had taken in. She must have been about four at the time. As you can imagine, this was fairly unusual. I mean, why did you think Vivli doesn't speak with the same elongated 'r''s that most mithra speak with?"

"Not a clue." Zinkata replied.

"Because she was never raised by them. The Order of White Mages took her in pretty much instantly. It means she grew up with them, not a traditional mithra family."

"That explains her cowardice as well. Mithra are supposed to be raised to be brave hunters." Zinkata said to help him clarify it in his brain.

"So I helped raise her, somewhere in between a father and an older brother." He paused. "They never explained to me _why _they rose her from a young age. As far as I can tell, she had parents and was living happily. They pretty much kidnapped her. Not that she could tell at that age. I was told to raise and protect her no matter what."

"So why did they let her go?" Zinkata asked.

"You must not tell her this." Fiorel told Zinkata. "Ever." He added for reinforcement. "But a few days before she left, monsters attacked The Monastery. Several White Mages and paladins died, and we managed to repel them. We told her the southern parts were closed for decoration. We knew they had attacked to come for her, but I was never told why. The Priestess made the decision that she had to leave. It was theorised that if she was an adventurer, with a party as she has now, she would be safe, and on the move to avoid any more harm. I disagreed."

"Why?" Zinkata asked.

"You've seen her. She's not the most competent hero of all time." He answered. "I warned her, telling her what I knew, but I couldn't say anymore. Hell, I didn't know anymore. She left. I decided I had to follow her, to make sure she was safe. Caught up with her here."

"I thought you said you were heading to Windurst!" Zinkata snapped.  
"I am. Now. After seeing that Sea Horror. I have no doubt it was coming for Vivli. I'm going to see the Priestess. I'm going to find out what's going on." He rose from the bar. "Do nothing stupid. Keep her safe."

Just as he was about to leave Vivli marched angrily into the bar.

"He broke my new staff!" She cried angrily. It was almost humorous how oblivious she was.


	7. VII

**PART VII**

"……………_..Sensei? Sensei?"_

"_Ah, funny….you're….back…"_

"_What happened?"_

"_Some….are….more….powerful…..than… you…..might…know…."_

"_What? Nobody could take you. I've seen you fight!"_

"_Consider this…..a final lesson. No matter….who you are….there's always….somebody better."_

"_What kind of talk is that?"_

"_Last words."_

"_Ha. A joker, even now…….Sensei? Sensei?…….Goodbye."_

Even Bootus was moderately impressed as San D'Oria emerged from the mist before the unlikely (is there any other kind?) band of adventurers. The gigantic stone structure ran as far as the eye could see, and the towering entrance seemed huge even to the galka.

He let his disapproval be heard through an angry groan as the two elvaan guards murmured under there breath something about 'outsiders'. Voldos shot them a fierce look, but they just laughed. He shrugged this off and the party entered San D'Oria.

Silently, each of the party turned to Voldos to lead them to the Bastok consulate that could guide them further. Voldos shrugged and decided to lead the way. The elves just turned away, or stared in disgust at the latest band of foreign outsiders to tread into their fair city.

"I hate elves." Vivli grumbled, before catching an angry glance from Voldos. "I mean, present company excluded." She nervously added. "But their always looking down on me!" Bootus let out an aggravated sigh.

"Vivli. It's difficult for any race to _not _look down on you." The galka took a step closer to remind her of her height issues.

"Not _any _race! I'll have you know amongst the tarutaru population back in Windurst I was considered quite tall!" She let out a smug smile.

"When your considered only _quite_ tall by tarus, you know you're short." Zinkata injected, wiping the smile from Vivli's face.

"Curses." Vivli mumbled due to the fact she had no sufficient comeback.

"I'm not going to ask how you guys came together." Commented the guard at the Bastokian consulate.

"Then don't and tell us where we have to go." Bootus tried to cut down the chit-chat as much as possible.

"Talk to the ambassador." The guard motioned to the room at the back. "But all he'll tell you to do is head to the chateau and talk to an elvaan guard there."

To their surprise, this information was accurate.

"I hate elves." Vivli commented again as they walked into the gigantic castle structure, named, for fancy purposes, a chateau. The others sighed irritably. An elvaan guard walked up to the party before they made it very far.

"Halt." He announced. "I suppose you're either a travelling circus, or that band of useless adventurers from Bastok."

"Depends on which one pays better." Zinkata joked before Voldos could reply.

"The second." He managed to interject moments after.

"Ah, yes. The adventurers sent to our job." He paused. "A brute, a furball, a semi-evolved ape and a disgrace."

"HEY!" Vivli screamed, making her offence more vocal than the others.

"Settle down." Whispered Bootus, restraining her by pulling on her tail.

"Ow!" She yelped, not settling down.

"Insults aside," Voldos snarled, "Give us our task, and we'll do it to the best of our ability."

"Look. I don't want you to be here. Yet the Bastokian government keeps sending you. So I'll continue to dispose of you." He paused for a weary sigh. "The orcs are gathering again, probably to attack. I want you to kill their leader, the war chief Vatgit. That'll slow them down." He paused again. "Of course, in actuality you'll just be killed. Either way, solves my problem."

"He seems fairly confident in us." Voldos whispered to Zinkata.

"Now get the hell out of here." He physically pushed Voldos, who stumbled back, knocking Vivli over completely. Of course, had Bootus kept hold of her tail, she would have remained standing. Some would suggest it was coincidence that this was the exact moment he let go. Other, more sane people, would not.

"I don't know about you," Voldos said to Vivli, "But even I'm beginning to hate elves."

"I can't believe he called me a fur-ball!" Vivli complained.

"Get over it." Bootus instructed her. "We need to get moving."

"Oh no, not until I get another staff." Vivli warned. "You owe me!" She angrily pointed to Voldos.

"Urm, well, I did break it to save the town." He said in his own defence. _I wonder how I can get out of this, _were his more specific thought patterns. _What would the others do? _"I'll get you a new one though. Just for you." He smiled and wondered off.

"Yeah, you better!" Vivli was slightly startled her complaining had worked, and so didn't quite know what to do.

"So, where's the tavern?" Asked Bootus, clasping his mighty hands together.

Sadly events at the tavern didn't go quite as well as Bootus had intended. Zinkata's knife trick didn't go down nearly as well, and Vivli refused to drink, thus quelling any humorous instances. And to make it worse, there were no tarus. Bootus grumbled miserably. The only highlight came upon Voldos's entrance.

"Hey! Vivli!" He cried. The mithra ran over, excited that somebody actually wanted to talk to her. "I got you a staff." He held it out to her, an offer. She took it happily at first, until she examined it.

"This is a stick!" She protested.

"No need to disgrace your weapon like that." Voldos responded. "Sure, staffs may look like basic sticks, but they have-"

"I mean it's a stick!" She cried. "You picked it up outside!"

"I am shocked and appalled you would ever level such an accusation at me!" Voldos gasped.

"It's still got leaves growing from it!" Vivli screamed.

"So they went for that natural look. Don't come crying to me!" The elf responded.

"Grrr." Vivli grumbled.

"Oh! Good! She's got a weapon!" Bootus marched towards the duo. "Come on, then. We've got a mission to complete."

"But-" Vivli began.

"Move it!" Bootus grabbed her by the tail and dragged her out of the tavern before she could finish. She let out a high pitched yelp, but was forced to follow. "I swear mithra evolved this thing just for this purpose." Bootus laughed as Vivli was helplessly dragged along behind, whining in pain.

They had soon left San D'Oria and headed towards the orcish camp. Every adventurer knew it was there, and several used it to hone their skills, and the few that ventured in further never returned.

"OW! LET GO!" Screamed Vivli, destroying the peaceful ponderings of Zinkata. "I'm going with you now, you can let me go!"

"I _could, _but that wouldn't be as much fun." Bootus smirked, pulling hard on Vivli's tail for emphasis. She yelped again.

"Let her go." Zinkata grumbled. "We don't need to attract any more attention with a screaming mithra."

"Aw, that's no fun." Bootus noticed the scowls he got from all three party members. "Fine." He let go, and Vivli instinctively pulled her tail back and around into her hands, where she rubbed it to ease the pain. She also put plenty of distance between herself and the galka.

"CHARGE!" Came a cry from the hills around them. Three orcs stampeded down the slope, spears drawn.

"Aw nuts." Voldos murmured as the orcs attacked.

Bootus, Zinkata and Voldos charged the orcs, meeting them head on. Vivli determinedly pulled out her staff only to see it was still a stick. She slipped it back in her belt with a grumble and prepared to cast healing magic.

Voldos got to the first orc that thrust his spear directly at the elf. Voldos dived aside, slicing across and cutting into the orcs leg. The orc stabbed downwards, scratching the elf's side. Voldos rolled away, and came up behind the orc. The two turned in confusion, almost losing their bearings. Voldos held his sword up, crossed across his body. He stared into the reflection of his blade, watching his back as well as the orc in front of him. He was determined to wait for the orc to make the first move.

The orc pulled out a bow and shot him.

Elsewhere Zinkata was proudly smirking at the orc he was engaged in combat against for he had just cut the orc's spear in half. The orc let out an angry scream and charged the human wildly. Zinkata extended his sword and effortlessly stabbed him.

Bootus had wrestled the final orc to the ground, and two were grappling. Bootus landed powerful blows, dazing the orc. He reached across, grabbing the spear of the monstrous beast, and drove it into the orc. The creature went limp.

_Ow thought Voldos, as he rose to his feet, arrow lodged in his chest. I want one. The orc reloaded its bow to fire again, but Voldos leapt at it. The orc fell to the ground, kicking Voldos over its own body. Voldos slammed down, but felt a warm magic dispose of any pain. Vivli smiled from the sidelines. With new determination, he rose to his feet, and ran for his sword. The orc raised, firing another arrow. He sliced it out of the air and swung his sword again, slicing off the head of the creature. It dropped down, dead._

"I call the bow!" He cried, bending down and picking it up.

"I hope you can use that." Came a deep angry voice. The party spun in all directions, but couldn't see the speaker.

"I'm scared." Vivli commented after sometime.

"Shut the hell up." Bootus told her.

"I can't believe you never even made the orcish camp." The voice told them.

"What?" Voldos snapped. "Give us half a chance."

"Your chances are over." A robed figure stepped out of seemingly nowhere.

"No. It can't be." Cried Zinkata. "Signot!"

"Your journey ends here heroes. Sorry to cut it short." Signot told the party. He held out a smooth metal hilt, on either end was a short jagged blade. The blades suddenly jumped out into full length swords, extending from both directions. A double bladed sword for duelling multiple opponents. Vivli let out a yelp as the blades jumped out, and Bootus followed this up with a groan. Signot held out the blade in a challenge.

"You can't take all of us!" Zinkata spat. "I almost beat you alone!"

"Ha. You can't be serious." Signot spun the blade and attacked. Zinkata blocked once, but was cut across the leg with a second spin _while _Signot brought the blade over his head to block Voldos. Voldos attacked a few more times, but Signot effortlessly drove him back before kicking him square in the chest and knocking him down. Bootus ran at him, but was flung back by an unseen force. "I've grown more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"

"You haven't won yet!" Bootus snarled as he leapt with full force. Signot flung him aside, again with an invisible power, sending the galka tumbling into Zinkata, who was just beginning to stand up. Voldos fired his newfound bow, but Signot stopped it, hovering it just before him.

"You are no match for the power my master has offered me." He dropped the arrow to the floor. He looked to Bootus. "You know I did a lot of training to become this powerful. I even killed this ridiculous crazed sensei. Some kind of galkan monk." He focused his burning red eyes on Bootus. "Ever heard of him?"

"You killed my _master!" _Bootus charged Signot, and Signot effortlessly drove his blade right through the galka. Bootus dropped to the floor.

"And his pupil." Signot said with a smile.

"I don't think so!" Came a sudden defiant cry.

Vivli healed Bootus, and the galka rose to his feet.

"I wondered when you'd get involved." Signot spat at the mithra. "You're just prolonging their pain you know?"

"Signot!" Zinkata was back on his feet. "You're the one that's going to experience pain!" He rushed him, and Signot began to parry him, driving him back. Voldos ran in on the left, and Signot fought the two of them off, bouncing between them but unable to get the finishing blow. Bootus charged Signot, slamming the robed man off his feet.

There was a pause before Bootus rocketed up into the air and slammed into the ground. He didn't move anymore. He fought back Zinkata and Voldos now with relative ease, slicing them to pieces despite the attempts to heal them coming from Vivli. Eventually, she collapsed to her knees from the exhaustion of the casting, and Voldos and Zinkata were left without help.

Signot backstabbed Voldos, causing the elf to drop. A lucky hit in the heated duel. He turned to face Zinkata.

"Just like old times, friend." He snarled.

"I'm no friend of yours." Zinkata snarled back.

"You're not?" Signot exclaimed, surprised. "Shame." He sliced with his blade, knocking Zinkata's sword aside. He pulled his double bladed sword back, slicing the ex-thief down the face. This gave him the distraction to finish him off with a stab.

"NO!" Vivli struggled to her feet, running towards her fallen comrades. Signot clicked his blade away and grabbed her as she did, throwing her to the ground.

"You've caused enough trouble." He told her. Tears streamed down her face. "Now let's see how you do without oxygen." Vivli began to choke, as if something was gripping her throat. She had heard of rasp, but never experienced it. It was a Black Magic spell, a spell designed only to kill.

"I….can't…..breath…." She gasped desperately.

"Yes. That's the idea." Her vision blurred and faded away, and she dropped down defeated.

Bootus opened his gigantic eyelids. A fat orc was stood before him, dressed in tribal armour.

"And so all three are awake." The orc announced. _Three? Vivli's gone? YES! _Bootus's mind screamed. He tried to move, but found himself chained to a post. He looked to his left and right to see Zinkata and Voldos, equally chained.

"Damn." He managed to say.

"I am War Chief Vatgit." The orc told them. "Chief of this camp, and soon to be, your executioner."

Vivli came too and started gasping for oxygen. She bolted upright, and tried to move. She was sat, but tied to a post just like the fate of the other adventurers. Except she was tied with a single rope. _Great, they're mocking me _she decided, knowing that any able adventurer could escape easily. A survey of her surrounding area revealed she was in the back of a caged cart, not unlike what was used to store circus animals.

"Don't worry, you will meet your fate soon enough." The voice of Signot sent a chill down her spine.  
"Fate?" She whimpered.

"My master will see to it that you are dealt with." Signot told her.

"Dealt with? What can I do?" She screamed hysterically.

"Call it a pre-emptive strike. My master knows some things you do not. He knows some things you are that you do not." Vivli struggled to comprehend this, but listened all the same.

"What? What do you mean?" She cried, but was met with nothingness. Her entire body shook in fear. She didn't know what was going on, or what Signot had meant, but she wished he would have explained fully or not at all, and not left her puzzled like that.

"I will return shortly with the instruments of your demise." Vatigt walked out of the tent the heroes found themselves in. They watched him go.

"Right. Time to plan our daring escape." Zinkata decided.


	8. VIII

**PART VIII**

"_You will go to Bastok."_

"_That dirt ball? Why?"_

"_They have become very advanced. Their technology is superior even to ours."_

"_Technology is no match for the skills of the elvaans."_

"_Of course not. But still, it is better to keep our eye on all aspects. Go there. Live as an adventurer."_

"_And then what?"_

"_We'll just ask you for reports from time to time."_

"_You're basically disowning me?"_

"_Adventuring is an easy life. Money, fun, heroics, girls-"_

"_I'll do it."_

Voldos was seeing nothing easy about adventuring right now. He was chained to a post, just like the others. And their daring escape wasn't evolving as brilliantly as he had hoped.

"Did you actually have any ideas?" Voldos asked Zinkata.

"Not one. But I figured we had better think of something." Zinkata replied. The tent's entrance was lifted up, and Vatgit waddled back in. In his hand he held a long metal pole, with what can only be described as a spiked clamp on the end. Voldos did not want to know what that was for.

"Now, to business." Snarled Vatgit. "Which one of you wants to die first?"

"In the absence of Vivli, I nominate Voldos." Bootus said.

"Well volunteered." Vatgit walked up to the galka.

"Aw nuts." Bootus muttered.

The gigantic galka now had only one choice. To centre all of his energy into his gigantic muscles, to break the chains restricting him, and to escape. He pulled on the chains, and could feel them twisting, and burst free. He went to run, only to discover his feet where still chained. He fell forwards comically, ripping the pole from the ground with his tremendous weight. It flew through the air, over Bootus's gigantic frame, and slammed into Vatgit's nose. The orc stumbled back as Bootus scrambled out of the chains and to his feet.

"Impressive!" Vatgit snapped. "But you are still unarmed."

"I'm always unarmed!" Bootus countered. He ran in, and knocked Vatgit to the floor before the fat orc could attack. He spun around, and with a mighty heave up hauled the pole holding Voldos down. The elf slipped out of the chains before the galka did the same for Zinkata.

"Should we be worried you freed us without a second thought?" Zinkata asked the galka sarcastically as he swept down, stealing a sword from Vatgit's belt.

"I stand a better chance of surviving with the three of us than alone." Bootus replied. "I haven't gone soft or anything."

"Yeah, right." Zinkata laughed.

"Guys! Company!" Voldos yelled as orcs charged in to the tent.

"Okay, stay calm. We have one sword between the three of us. We can handle this." Zinkata reassured.

"Give me that!" Voldos snatched the blade before the human could react. "First thing is first." He drove the sword into Vatgit. The orcs froze in shock. "Mission accomplished. Now to rescue Vivli and get the hell out of here."

"Aw, can't we just do the second thing?" Bootus requested, but Voldos had already run to the back of the tent. He cut down the fabric with the sword and leapt out. Zinkata followed. Bootus got horribly tangled in the tent due to his size, but eventually stumbled behind them just before the orcs got to him.

"Let's move!" Screamed Voldos as the camp came to life around them. He charged forwards, and landed flat on his face. His shin hurt. He had tripped over something big. A chest.

"Open it!" Zinkata ordered, and nobody disobeyed. Bootus ripped it open to find within the party's gear (right down to Vivli's stick).

"Alright!" Exclaimed the elf, lifting up his sword."That almost makes up for tripping over!"

"Shut up and run!" Bootus yelled as the orcs closed in around them.

"Halt!" Came a harsh command. The orcs stopped, backing away. Signot stepped out between them. "Never leave a beastman to do a real man's job, eh?"

"Signot!" Cried Zinkata angrily. "What's going on here?"

"You mean the orcs?" He smirked. "They were a distraction to lure you here. Or more specifically, her here. The rest of you were just nuisances."

"What the hell is so special about Vivli?" Bootus asked confused.

"I'm not stupid enough to reveal my plans to you." Signot replied. "Suffice to say, you won't have to worry about it. The world is one long journey, and this is where you get off." His double bladed sword clicked back into life.

"HELP!" A scream suddenly broke off the tense confrontation. It was Vivli, and came from a large object covered by a sheet. Closer inspection revealed it was some form of prison cart.

"Bootus! Free her! We'll hold off Signot!" Voldos commanded, running at the robed one.

"Aw, do I have to?" Moaned the galka.

"YES!" The two warriors snapped, duelling. Bootus stomped over to the gigantic cage, ripping the sheet off. Vivli was indeed inside, bound by rope.

"Get me out of here!" She screamed. Bootus walked up to the entrance, and heaved with all his might, ripping the gate clean off.

"Come on!" He cried.

"I'm tied up!" She yelled. Bootus just let out a weary sigh, grabbing her tail, and pulling hard. She screamed, and the ropes broke as she was pulled away from the post. "OW! Couldn't you have done that in a less painful way?"

"Yes. Yes I could." Booutus replied.

"Let's just get out of here." She winced, rubbing her now limp tail.

Signot knocked Voldos's sword clean from his hands and kicked Zinkata to the floor.

"It is over." Signot told them. "You die here."

"No! Don't hurt them!" Vivli cried, running over.

"So you escaped. Do you think it matters?" He asked rhetorically. "You cannot get away from me. I will kill these fools and then you."

"No you wont!" Came a sudden voice. It was Fiorel.

"Fiorel!" Vivli cried, half delighted and half petrified.

"What are you doing here?" Zinkata asked in disbelief.

"Saving you lot by the looks of it." He drew his silver long sword. "Get Vivli out of here. Now!"

The party obeyed, dragging Vivli away as she watched in horror. Luckily for her, Bootus didn't get there first, so her tail was preserved.

"NO! We can't leave him!" She protested as Zinkata dragged her away.

"We stay here and we die! Now move!" He took an unusually harsh tone with her, and the party ran.

Signot ran at Fiorel, but the paladin held off the dark lord with moderate ease.

"You're not bad." Smirked Fiorel.

"Shame you are." Countered Signot. He attacked again, and Fiorel continued to block each attack the best he could. The double edged sword gave Signot a slight advantage, and he caught Fiorel off guard as a blast of lightning hit him in the chest. Fiorel fell to the ground.

A piercing scream ripped through the air.

"FIOREL! NO!" Sobbed Vivli.

"It's too late for him!" Voldos yelled.

"Then let's get out of here before it's too late for us!" Bootus suggested. They rocketed down a mountain path, only to meet a blockade of orcs. They knew they couldn't go back.

"Down the edge!" Zinkata suggested in what was a lot like an order. He jumped onto the incredibly steep edge of the mountain followed by Voldos and Bootus. Vivli gave one last look up at the mountain top before following. She stumbled and fell, causing a small rock slide. The others quickly got caught up and all four tumbled into oblivion.

Voldos awoke in bed. His first reaction was that it had been a dream, but a badly bruised leg and a cut up face made him fairly sure this wasn't the case. He sat up, and began to analyse. It wasn't his room. It was made out of wood, but neatly constructed. He arose from the bed, noticing he was only in a t-shirt and trousers. Somebody had taken his armour. He walked up to the wooden door, and swung it open, cautiously stepping out into what appeared to be a dining room. He glanced out the glass window to see grass outside, and the occasional tree. The orc mountain hung in the background.

A fairly old elvaan man walked in, with brown hair, greying. He was wearing basic farmer's garb.

"Ah, you're awake." He stated. "You took quite a tumble. I don't know what you did, but I've never seen so many beastmen roaming the mountain."

"I, urm, might have stirred up some trouble." Voldos laughed nervously. "Wasn't really my fault." He quickly added.

"Who was it then? That girl that was with you?" The stranger asked.

"Vivli? You found her as well?" Voldos asked at speed.

"Yes. A little mithra thing. Tiny. Surprised she survived the fall, to be honest. She's still unconscious." The farmer told the elf.

"Did you find anybody else? A galka? Or a human?" Voldos inquired.

"Just you two. But there was a lot of rubble and a lot of dust, and orcs were coming. I had to leave quickly. It was lucky I managed to get you two out of there alive." He paused. "My name's Jonathan, I'm a farmer. Or was. With the orcs around, it's getting more difficult."

"I can imagine." Sighed Voldos, looking back on the mountain, pondering about all that had happened in such a short time.

"Jonathan, aren't you going to offer him something to eat?" Came a voice from another room. A fairly old elvaan woman walked in, presumably Jonathan's wife.

"Yes, Martha." He paused. "Do you want some food." _I really should be out searching for Bootus and Zinkata _Voldos's brain told him. _No! Take the food you fool _cried his stomach.

"Yes. Very much so." Voldos replied hungrily.

Vivli woke up and instantly wished she hadn't. Everything hurt. She was unaware so much could physically hurt without overriding the other bit that was hurting. She blamed this on everything hurting equally. She tried to get up, but failed miserably due to pain. So she tried to heal herself, again failing due to pain. She paused, and finally hauled herself to her feet. She stood there for a moment, and fell over. She cursed.

Some time later she had successfully healed herself and wondered out to find Voldos eating. A lot.

"What?" He said at her weary stare. "I'm hungry."

"What happened?" Groaned the White Mage.

"_Somebody knocked us down the mountain._" Voldos stopped eating long enough to point at the mountain.

"Oh come on, we were all going to fall anyway. It was nearly vertical!" She yelled in her defence. She suddenly fell silent as the memory of Fiorel dawned upon her. "He's dead, isn't he?"

"Fiorel?" Asked Voldos, and the complete lack of reaction from the mithra confirmed this. "We saw that guy handle a Sea Horror, I don't think anything can kill him." Vivli looked away from the window, and Voldos, trying to hide the fact she was crying.

"He screamed. I know it was him." Her voice was breaking and it was obvious she was upset.

"Signot couldn't have killed him. Hell, he probably killed Signot then screamed to play a joke on you." Voldos knew it wasn't too likely, but had to do something to keep Vivli from breaking down. Luckily before she got too upset something happened to distract her.

"Yo, idiots. Problem here." Bootus swung open the door, almost ripping it off its hinges, and dumped Zinkata's body on the table. "Hey, that for me?" Bootus asked, snatching the leg of some creature Voldos was eating from the elf and stuffing it into his own mouth. Jonathan and Martha just stared in disbelief.

"Sorry." Vivli whimpered to them.

"Well, you going to stand there or are you going to heal him?" Asked the galka. Vivli sighed and cast a spell on the fallen thief-cum-warrior. He suddenly woke up.

"A table. A strange place to wake up." He narrated. "What happened?"

After some group filling in outside, the party were ready to go. They were outside because Vivli had insisted they went away from the house due to the embarrassment Bootus had caused. She had also apologised continuously and offered her sincerest thanks, along with Voldos. Bootus had been buried beneath the rocks, hence why he hadn't been found, but his galkan might meant he had awoken and still burst out. Zinkata had, of all places, landed in a river, and it was blind luck Bootus had found him.

As for how they found the house, Bootus never explained. He claimed he was drawn to Vivli's stupidity whenever she asked.

"So what now?" Vivli asked, after the explanations had been given.

"Back to San D'Oria." Zinkata decided. "And then on to Windurst."

"What? We carry on?" The tiny White Mage screamed. "Even after all that's happened?"

"Yes. We have no choice. Besides, Windurst is most likely going to be considerably safer than here." Zinkata gestured to the mountain.

"What about Fiorel?" She asked sadly.

"We have to move. If he's alive, he'll find you. He wouldn't want you hanging around the orc mountain anyway." Zinkata's attempt at being comforting didn't work. Vivli burst into tears as soon as she heard 'if'. Bootus grumbled angrily to himself.

"Well, let's go. But first, I'm going to say food-" Voldos paused, "I mean get some thanks-" He paused again, "I mean say thanks to the farmers that rescued us." _Smooth, Voldos. Real smooth._

"Yeah, I guess I should say thanks as well. Probably give them something for their troubles." Vivli muttered through tears, looking in her pocket at the few pieces of gold she had left. She head inside after Voldos, crying to herself.

"Why did we pick up such a wuss?" Bootus asked. "Next stop, I say we pick up a tarutaru White Mage who doesn't cry every two seconds." Zinkata didn't respond. He was too busy staring back up at the mountain.


	9. IX

**PART IX**

"_Beastmen are attacking the city!"_

"_Defend! Defend!"_

"_Incoming!"_

"_Open fire!"_

"_They're beyond the walls!"_

"_RUN!"_

"_It's too late!"_

"_Stand and fight! Protect the children!"_

"_RUN! GET ZINKATA THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"_

Zinkata bolted awake in his bed. He really hoped that wasn't a premonition of some kind. He certainly didn't remember being in a city overrun by monsters when he was a child, but it was very possible it did happen before he arrived alone in Bastok. After all, many cities fell to the beastmen back in the war, and he couldn't remember much of his early childhood. He shook his head. It was much more likely it was his brain trying to process the thought of what was coming next. He was very doubtful Signot would let them go, and that was why they had to leave San D'Oria as soon as it was physically possible. They had stayed the night, but any longer and he knew Signot would come.

He rose from his bed and slipped into his armour. He casually threw his sword on his back and decided to go and wake the others.

Signot was angry. He was in bad shape. His eye was gone, replaced by a bloody mess. His long black robe was ripped and torn. His hood had a tear running right across it. He had multiple stab wounds and cuts, and was alive purely through the miracle of magic. He turned to the new war chief of the orcs.

"They will pay for their crimes." He stated. He didn't need to confront his master for this. He was too angry for that. "Attack. Bring me the girl no matter what. Do not retreat. Do not turn away. Unless you have her, do not return."

Zinkata wondered the street to the mog houses the others had rented. Voldos was completely silent, probably still sleeping. He generally missed anything claiming to be a 'morning' by sleeping some more. Bootus was arguing with his moogle by the sounds of it. Vivli was sobbing quietly in her room. He pondered the three options. He decided somebody had better check on Vivli, it was better to make sure she was over any problems she had than her locking up in battle. At least, that's what he told himself to hide the possibility he was developing a conscience since he had put his thieving ways behind him.

"So then, what's wrong?" He asked, leaning in the doorway.

"What do you mean 'what's wrong'?" Vivli sobbed. "Fiorel is dead! And it's all my fault!" She burst into tears, sat on the edge of her bed. Zinkata sighed, preparing himself to be as comforting as possible. It wasn't something he was used to doing. He sat on the bed next to Vivli.

"Hey, none of this is your fault." He put an arm around her, which felt very strange, but at least he felt it helped her feel comforted. "Hell, none of us even know what 'this' is."

"That's what's so scary." Vivli murmured.

"Well, you're safe now." Zinkata pointed out.

"TO ARMS!" Came a scream from outside. "ORCS ARE IN THE CITY!"

"Aw nuts." The ex-thief muttered.

The two adventurers quickly burst out of the mog house, Zinkata drawing his weapon. Bootus and Voldos quickly joined them.

"What's going on?" Asked the elf.  
"Sounds like orcs are inside the city walls." Zinkata answered.

"Well then," Bootus said with a smile, "It's clobberin' time!"

San D'Oria had been fairly peaceful, as it often was in the mornings. The guards were lazily slouched against the wall, they never had to be concerned with anything this early. Of course, they almost jumped out of their skins when a squad of orcs rushed into the city. They quickly drew their weapons and a battle began.

The party ran down the street, out of the residential area. They could here the growl of orcs coming from the entrance of the city. They noticed four orcs staring down at them from the wall above.  
"How'd they get up there?" Bootus asked. The orcs jumped down, landing by the party.

"We can sort that out later!" Zinkata replied as they leapt into battle. They were surrounded, two orcs on both sides. Zinkata quickly drove upwards with his sword, slicing one away. The second drove its spear at him, and the human dodged the thrust, parrying and being driven against a gigantic stone wall. Bootus grabbed it from behind and hurled it over his head. It slammed down hard, just before the galka made sure it wouldn't be getting back up.

Vivli heroically backed away from one orc while Voldos duelled the other. While Voldos could quickly take care of an orc (and proceeded to do so) Vivli didn't stand a chance. Luckily for her, it didn't try to kill her, but instead she found it grabbing her and dragging her away.

"HELP!" She bellowed. Voldos shrugged and drew a bow, aiming at her. She squeezed her eyes tight in fear. The arrow flew at her, and lodged into the orc's head. It dropped down, on top of her. "Dammmit!" She groaned. "Orcs are heavy!"

Bootus threw the orc corpse off of Vivli and helped her to her feet.

"Sparky!" She screamed, remembering her old nickname for Voldos. "Can you please _not _aim that bow at me!"

"Hey, I had to shoot the orc. Not my fault you were close to it." Voldos said with a shrug.

"More to the point, they're still trying to capture you, Vivli." Zinkata pointed out. "They must be raiding the city because of you." A whimper alerted him that this wasn't the best thing to say. "I mean, to get you. This means if we can get you out of the city, this attack will stop."

"How will that help?" Asked Bootus. "The orcs'll just cause more damage looking for her."

"We need to get out of the city, let them know we got out of the city, and not be caught. Easy." Voldos said with a shrug. "What?" He added as he got many sceptical stares.

_Foolish elves, Signot thought, they are utterly unprepared for my power. The elves couldn't believe their city was being invaded. Never had this happened. Not even the greatest armies in the beastmen wars had broken in, and now there were squads of orcs running about as if they were residences. They never lasted long, guards picking them off as they tried to explore, but that didn't matter. It was the principle. Beastmen in San D'Oria. It was unheard of. Signot laughed at the chaos, levitating more orcs over the walls. They didn't have enough orcs to launch a full on offensive, but he knew all they had to do was find the mithra and bring her to him. It didn't matter how many died, and it didn't matter how long it took._

"We need a way out!" Declared Bootus as he punched another orc they had run into. It was causing a surprising amount of concern, the citizens were totally perplexed at awaking to the signs of battle in the streets.

"The gates have been sealed." A passing guard that had joined the fray told them. "They can't get in." Four orcs flew haphazardly over the wall. "What the hell?" The guard bellowed.

"We don't have time to explain." Zinkata began. "The orcs are looking for her." He gestured to Vivli. "If we can get her out of the city, they'll stop."

"We can handle a few orcs." The guard remarked.

"They'll keep coming, no matter how few." Zinkata replied. "Isn't it safer to solve the problem quickly?"

"You could get to the docks." The guard suggested as he drove one of the orcs back. "Get out that way."

"Thanks!" Zinkata replied.

The party bolted through the streets, passing orcish corpses as they ran. Vivli stopped, panting, and turned back. She noticed the orcs had stopped.

"Hey guys, it's over!" She managed to get out between breaths. Signot had clearly stopped his assault. The orcs were no longer coming.

"Either way, I think it may be better to get out of the city." Voldos voiced his opinion. "And this way we get a free airship ride."

"Come on!" Bootus gestured, dragging the still panting Vivli along.

They walked into the docks, which were mostly deserted. Bootus walked up to the guard stood at the airship entrance.

"Let us on." He stated.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, unless you have an airship ticket." Came the response.

"Listen. Orcs just invaded the city. They will do again, unless this little girl gets out." Vivli went to say something as she realised she was being called 'little girl' but Zinkata restrained her. "So, you can either serve your kingdom and let us on, or you can let us stay and the city will be attacked again." The guard pondered this for entirely too long, as orcs pounced from behind the crates scattered around the dock.

"Dammit!" The galka cried. "They must have been hiding." A quick count revealed a dozen orcs, and Bootus knew this meant the party was in trouble. Vivli found herself being helplessly carried off as an orc grabbed her. Bootus jumped between the beastmen, pulling her back. The two turned, facing the orcs.

"Where'd the others go?" Exclaimed the mage.

"I don't know!" Bootus replied, hitting an orc away. "But I don't think that matters right now!"

"We're going to die, aren't we?" Vivli whimpered, desperately trying to cast spells, but completely unable to due to the constant attacks.

"Pretty much." Bootus answered. Vivli let out an inaudible whimper as finally the orcs got a hold of her and began to pull her away again. She struggled helplessly as Bootus fought back against the others. She kicked desperately to get away, and let out a sigh giving up. It was over.

Until she saw a rope dangling in front of her. She took hold of it, with little other choice. Suddenly she found herself raising into the air. The orc let go in shock as she found herself flying above them. She looked up to see the San D'Orian airship departing. The rope suddenly went taught, and she looked down to see a beaten Bootus clinging to it.

"We got 'em!" Shouted Voldos from the deck.

"Great!" Came Zinkata's response. "Now to figure out how to fly this thing!" He pulled on a lever, and quickly put it back as he heard an uneasy creaking.

"I thought you knew!" Cried Voldos. Vivli couldn't hear anymore, her arms had turned to a dull ache, and she couldn't hold herself on the rope anymore. She fell.

Bootus grabbed her.

"Can't you do anything yourself?" He snapped. She laughed in relief. "HEY SIGNOT!" He bellowed as they soared over the city. "COME AND GET US!"

Signot saw it, but didn't quite believe it.

"Clever." He remarked. "But not quite clever enough." A bolt of black energy began to glow in his hands.

Bootus clambered onto deck, throwing Vivli up with force.

"Ow." She whimpered.

"Incredible guys!" Bootus sounded overjoyed. "I never thought you'd come through!"

"We're not out of it yet! I don't know how to fly one of these things!" Zinkata screamed as the airship swayed. Vivli had just finished casting cure spells to make sure the party were in good shape.

"I think I'm going to be sick." She muttered as it lurched awkwardly. She looked below, making her feel even sicker.

"Then won't you let me fly! Please!" Screamed the pilot of the airship, who was slumped at the back.

"Why aren't you letting him fly?" Bootus bellowed.

"He wouldn't let us take the airship!" Zinkata replied.

"Fly it! Fly it!" The galka screamed at the pilot as he ran to the wheel, pushing Zinkata side. The ship jerked back into smooth motion from its rumblings, and Vivli threw up.

Some disgusting yellow liquid plummeted from the sky, splashing down by Signot. He smirked.

"Goodbye." He commented smugly, blasting a beam of black energy directly up at the airship. The back of it exploded.

"HOLY HELL!" Zinkata bellowed as the airship spiralled out of control.

"I'm going to be sick again!" Vivli whimpered as the entire thing spiralled down.

"We're dead!" Bootus cried. "Again!" He promptly added.

"I've still got some control!" The pilot yelled. "I'm heading for the sea. That should soften our landing!"

"I can't swim!" Protested Vivli.

"You've got about twenty seconds to learn!" Zinkata yelled back.

"We're over the dunes!" The pilot announced as the greenery of the San D'Orian lands faded behind them. The pilot glanced back at the flaming airship. "Who did you guys piss off?"

"But I can't swim." Vivli whimpered again as the dunes turned to water.

"BRACE YOURSELVES!"

_I can't swim. I hate water. Vivli's thoughts were surprisingly simplistic as she felt the ocean wash around her. She splashed desperately, swallowing galleons of the salty water and sinking beneath the waves._

Vivli let out a feeble cough. Water splashed out of her mouth and onto the sand. _I'm alive. It's a miracle. _She was on a beach somewhere. She tried to get up, but her arms just shook feebly and she collapsed. She was so drained she didn't even have the strength to get up anymore. She instead lay sprawled on the sand, wherever she was, waiting.

Time became timeless. She didn't know how long she lay there, or even if she was conscious or not. She just waited, as time slowly floated by. She could here the waves lapping around her, a rhythmic tune that let her drop into a deep sleep.

She awoke slumped against a cliff, still feebly weak from exhaustion and pain. She looked around to see a sheep chewing on something bloody. It seemed she was the next meal. Of course, she didn't know Zinkata had been in a similar situation just before they all met.

This time she managed to struggle to her feet, swaying uneasily. She was alone. That wasn't good. The sheep let out a snort and turned towards her. She weakly reached for her weapon, but it was gone. She swayed again struggling to stay conscious. The sheep snorted again, advancing on her. She backed away, frightened. She fell to the ground, unable to stay up. Her first instinct in such a situation was to curl into a ball and wait for death. Luckily, logic overcame this, and she tried to cast a spell. This was too draining and she couldn't. Something attacked the sheep. A blur of movement. And then she passed out.

Her eyes fluttered open again, and once again she had changed location. She was in a small room on a basic bed.

"Help!" Was her first instinctive word, spoken with panic. A caring looking girl peered over her.

"Don't worry. Calm down." She said soothingly. "You're alright."

"Alright?" She murmured wearingly.

"Don't worry." The stranger dabbed Vivli's brow with a cold sponge. That helped her come to her senses. "Somebody found you out in the dunes. You're lucky to be alive."

"Alive?" Vivli wasn't speaking in a very coherent form.

"Don't worry. You're alright. You're at a recovery centre in Seblina. We deal with wounded adventurers all the time." The stranger turned away. She turned back again, holding a glass of water. "I'm Alex, by the way. Drink this." She offered Vivli the drink and the mithra didn't hesitate to take it.

"Where are the others?" She muttered.

"Others? You mean you lost your party?" Alex asked.

"Yes." Vivli shook her head, her mind beginning to mend itself into coherent thoughts. "We were on an airship. It crashed into the sea."

"You were on that thing?" Alex cried in surprise, a little too loudly for Vivli's liking. "Wow, you really are lucky."

"Lucky." Laughed Vivli. "I bet their dead. Everybody I know dies." She began to cry.

"Why don't you rest. I'll ask around. I'm sure somebody has seen your friends."

"Yar, they be walking the plank soon." Snarled the captain from outside the hold of the pirate ship.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Muttered Bootus, struggling with the chains that bound him. Zinkata and Voldos shared a silent glance.


	10. X

**PART X**

"_But I hate water."_

"_Just get in there!"_

"_No! I can't even swim!"_

"_It's waist deep!"_

"_For you!"_

"_Oh yeah. Well, that's still not that deep."_

"_I'm not going swimming."_

"_You'll have to learn sometime."_

"_Apparently not."_

"_Fine, but you'll regret it."_

Vivli still wasn't sure if she did regret it or not. She figured the reason the others hadn't shown up washed up in one form or another was because they had stayed, splashing around, swimming, where as she had sunk and nearly drowned. So, in many ways, she owed her life to refusing to take swimming lessons off Fiorel all those years ago.

Of course, any thoughts involving Fiorel made her remember he was most probably dead, and in turn remember that the rest of the party was most probably dead as well. She was slightly surprised to find herself handle this a little better now, instead of crying about it, she found herself pondering what to do next. This almost worked, had this not triggered a feeling of grief _because _she suddenly didn't seem to care, prompting her to cry again. Of course, these problems were minor compared to the current affairs of Bootus, Voldos and Zinkata.

"Yar, scrub harder ye dogs!" Barked the pirate captain as the three adventurers-turned-pirates scrubbed the deck. They had been given the choice: join the crew, or walk the plank. They had decided to join, should the opportunity for mutiny and freedom arise.

"Dammit! Why are we scrubbing the decks anyway?" Bootus snapped.

"Ar, what else do ye think ye be doing?" Asked the captain. "Ye can't sail, and there's nothing to be blastin', so ye scrub the decks."

"I dunno, Captain, we could just laze around on the decks and do nothing." Voldos suggested.

"Get back to scrubbing!" The captain waddled off angrily, apparently trying to find something more productive to do.

"Let's find a way out of here, quickly." Zinkata suggested.

"Sit down!" Gasped Alex as she spotted Vivli wondering out the door.

"What? Why?" Vivli turned around.

"You're still recovering. You can't leave." Alex told her.

"I have to. Besides-" Vivli suddenly paused. "Wait a second. Alex. As in Alexandria?"

"Yeah." Alex paused. "How did you-" She stopped again. "Wait a second. I've seen you before. You're from the monastery."

"Yeah. I'm Vivli. Doubt anybody mentioned me, but I saw you around. You were in the advanced classes above me." Vivli was becoming slightly excited at seeing a familiar face.

"Vivli?" Exclaimed Alex for a moment, before pausing. "Urm, I mean, no, don't think I've heard of you." If Vivli was slightly less naïve and gullible, she might have found such a reaction odd. "Well, erm, since your from the monastery, I insist you stay until your fully healed." Vivli was a bit surprised. She wasn't too sure how to get out of this.

"I have to find the others." She explained.

"Look, I'll ask the guard to send out a search party. You stay here and rest." Alex sat Vivli down forcibly. Vivli shook on the stretcher she had been sat on. She had to admit she was tired, and didn't feel like facing the outside.

"But I need to find them." She said, trying to get up.

"They'll get right on it. You sit here and rest." Alex turned and walked out. Vivli fell to sleep before she had time to ponder whether she should be staying or going.

"Weren't we supposed to be saving the world?" Voldos asked while cleaning out a cannon.

"Don't think so. I think the extend of our mission was 'protect the incompetent White Mage'." Bootus replied. "Oh yeah, and spy on San D'Oria and Windurst."

"Damn. Wonder what happened to Vivli?" Zinkata quickly asked. "It sounded kind of important we kept her alive."

"Can't be much worse off than us." Voldos muttered. "I mean, what kind of ship has the policy 'no women'? What the hell am I meant to do now?" Bootus went to make a suggestion. "NO! HELL NO! Don't even say it!" The gigantic galka giggled (which was a hilarious sight in itself).

"On deck!" Announced somebody and the three rushed up there to see what was happening. The captain (who happened to be named Bikke, after an old pirate legend), stepped out onto the deck.

"Yar, listen up, me might crew." Zinkata looked around. The 'crew' were made mostly up of undead skeletons, and some ridiculously stereotypical looking pirates. The ex-thief half expected them to burst into song and dance. "The ferry to Windurst will be passing through these very waters, and we be attacking. This be the opportunity to prove yeselves, for some newcomers." Bikke gave a glance to the three adventurers. "We be attacking within the hour. Ready yeselves." Zinkata glanced to Voldos.

"This is the perfect opportunity to escape." He said.

"Is the captain really this stupid or does he know we're gonna attempt to get away?" The elf replied with a question.

"I don't think we need to worry about Bikke's intellect." Zinkata stated as he watched Bikke desperately try to hold his pirate hat on his head in the blowing wind.

Vivli woke up again and instantly cursed having fallen asleep. Of course, she usually got away with cursing because no other White Mage's were around to tell her it was immoral.

"Oi! You shouldn't be saying things like that!" Alex yelled. This was not one of those usual times.

"The code doesn't forbid it." Vivli said with a smile.

"Actually, I think it does. Somewhere at the back." Alex tried to look serious, but she just laughed. The White Mage code had a strict version they all followed, and then several meaningless rules most White Mages ignored. Like 'you shall always wear white', when journeying in the world wearing white all the time was impossible. It quickly became brown, green, or in one strange instant, purple. It's probably best not to ask about that one.

"Can I leave yet?" Vivli asked, climbing to her feet.

"You _can. _I wouldn't recommend it." Alex replied.

"I'm fine." Vivli lied. Her head spun and she almost fell over. She quickly gathered herself and managed to regain her balance.

"Look, I cant force you to stay here." Alex began. "But it looks like you really should. You got lucky anybody was around to find you last time. You go out now, and you could get in serious trouble." Alex decided to try reverse psychology the best she could.

"Look, I know I should stay," And it almost worked. "But I can't. I _have _to find the others. I can't just leave them." With that, Vivli walked to the door and swung it open. She noticed it felt unusually heavy. Of course, this wasn't the door, it was her. She was feeling incredibly weak and shaky. She tried her best not to show any concern and walked out. Alex didn't try to hide her concern. Something was clearly bothering her.

Vivli looked dizzily around town. People were wondering around quite quietly, not much was happening. She swayed uneasily, and steadied herself against the wall of the recovery building. She had no plan. She had no ideas. She didn't have a clue what she was doing. The dock of the town was still damaged from where the Sea Horror had torn through, but it was at least under repair. Suprisingly, she managed to keep a hold of herself when remembering the battle that had taken place there with the possibly dead team mates and Fiorel. She was almost impressed with herself.

Suddenly she dropped. Something odd happened. It was if her body told her it wasn't having anymore of this standing up and was just going to lie down. And so, it shut itself down. And she fell.

Luckily a passing galka grabbed her and set her on her feet. She shook her head wearingly.

"Thanks." She mumbled, before wondering off, dazed. She wondered out onto the outskirts of the dunes, and heard a battle. Vivli always felt better when helping others, and so decided to head out and help this person in combat. She hoped it would make her feel better.

You can imagine then, when she discovered the battle was between two goblins, she was slightly surprised. They circled each other and lunged. One grappled the other and flung it to the floor. It drove its own knife through the neck of the pinned goblin, ending its life, before charging off to attack another. Vivli took a few more curious steps, swayed, and collapsed.

_Dammit she thought as she awoke back in the recovery building, lying on a basic stretcher._

"That's it." Stated Alexandria. "You're going nowhere. It's too dangerous. Especially right now."

"Right now?" Vivli asked, getting up slowly.

"All the confusion with the beastmen." Alex replied. "Doubt you've heard."

"No. What?" She sighed.

"Their attacking each other. Almost a civil war between them. Nobody knows quite what the causes are. Until now, they'd been organised. Even the authorities were getting worried the Shadow Lord had returned and was controlling them." The Shadow Lord had led the beastmen in combat twenty years ago during the crystal war, but had been slain by a hero. "So all of a sudden, their attacking each other. And it isn't unorganised. Groups of beastmen are fighting, and staying in those groups."

"That's odd." Vivli muttered. She shook her head to try and regain her senses. "That's very odd."

"Ha. You haven't heard the half of it. The ship just got in from Windurst, and on it there's these three adventurers being praised as heroes for repelling a pirate invasion."

"What's so odd about that?" Vivli asked.

"They were pirates. They turned on the crew the instant they touched on the ship, cut the ropes attaching the ships, and then the pirates didn't know what to do. Their over in the tavern celebrating. All different races as well, an elf, a human and a galka." Vivli suddenly shot up. "The elf kept hitting on me."

"It's them!" She screamed happily. "It's my party!" Vivli shot straight out of the building before Alexandria could stop her.

Deep in the bowels of the land, Signot met his master once more. He now wore an eye patch over his lost eye and his black cloak had been replaced with one that was crimson. He knelt down on one knee, listening to the announcements of his lord.

"Signot, your attack on San D'Oria was fool hardy." The voice warned.

"I know, my master. Forgive me." Signot kept his head down.

"The Shadow Lord has clearly become aware of our activities. The beastmen are torn over who to serve." An underlying tone of anger pounded with the voice.

"It does not matter, my master." Signot's voice was quaking. "You are almost reformed, and when you are, nobody will stand against you. You are the true ruler of Vana'diel. You are the true ruler of the world. This," Signot paused, speaking with contempt, "Shadow Lord is no match for you."

"It is true. The Shadow Lord will fall under my domain." The voice paused again. "Send word out to the Shadow Lord. He is to cease hostilities and surrender to me."

"Master, is that wise? He fights you by choice and-" Signot didn't get a chance to finish.

"Tell him the great God Uggalepih lives again, and if he does not obey my will, he shall be destroyed!" The voice boomed with rage, and Signot felt a deep terror flash through him. The most evil of the gods, Uggalepih, was no name to be mentioned lightly, and Signot trembled in fear at the thought he was conversing with that very creature right now. The Shadow Lord would not disobey Uggalepih, he could not, it was not possible. Signot smiled. He knew now they were to be victorious.

Indeed, their greatest threat, despite appearances, were currently telling tales in a small tavern in Seblina. The tavern was mostly a shop, but had been adapted to be a tavern by command.

"And then I pounded those pirates single-handed while the other guys here cowered." Voldos bragged to a girl slumped against a wall. "So, what do you think baby? Say you and me go and find a more private room?"

"VOLDOS!" Screamed the girl, turning around. "It's me!" Voldos staggered back noticing it was Vivli.

"AH!" He screamed. "I didn't realise it was you! I didn't mean to- I mean I would never- You would-" He paused. "AH!" He screamed again. "I'd never hit on you!"

"Should I be horribly offended or horribly relieved?" Vivli asked to nobody.

"Vivli!" Bootus cried. "You're alive!"

"Just about." Vivli swayed again, feeling quite dizzy. Bootus caught her and stood her back up.

"Thank god for that." The galka sighed. Vivli blinked. Had she just heard what she thought? "I mean, if you were dead, whatever Signot was trying to do might succeed."

"Hey! Vivli!" Zinkata ran over. "You missed us becoming pirates! And defeating this pirate captain! And a boat ride! And-" Zinkata's mind caught up with his mouth. "What happened to you?"

"Well," Vivli prepared to explain.

Sometime later and they were back at the recovery centre. Vivli had collapsed _again _and it was the only place to take her. Unfortunately, this proved disastrous.

"GO AWAY!" Screamed Alex at the irritating elf.

"But, Alex, without you, my life is nothing!" Pleaded the elf.

"On day, that'll work, then he won't know what to do." Vivli laughed, sat up on the bed.

"Oh, I think he knows what to do!" Bootus replied.

"Please!" Alex cried. "Go! Vivli needs to rest, and can't with you buzzing around!"

"But I go where you go!" The elf cried romantically. "I'll follow you to the ends of the land!"

"Vivli needs to rest!" Cried the White Mage. "And she can't with you making that much noise!"

"Aw, the little mithra needs to sleep." Bootus said sarcastically. "Want us to read you a bed time story?"

"Read her the one about the light warriors. I love that one!" Zinkata went along with the joke. Vivli chuckled to herself.

"I don't. All the time travel makes my head hurt." Bootus grumbled. "I mean, how did they slay the demon lord Chaos 2000 years in the past? And if they did, surely none of the events would have happened in the future because Chaos was already dead? Or did they still happen, because he had set the four fiends free before then? And if he had set them free, what would killing him in the past achieve? So just how did they save the world by killing somebody thousands of years in the past? And, even if they did save the world, wouldn't they just cause an endless paradox? I mean, if there was no threat in the future, they'd never have gone back in time!" The others stared at Bootus in disbelief.

"Bootus. How old are you?" Zinkata asked blankly.

"Thirty one." The galka proudly crossed his arms, knowing he was quite a bit older than the others.

"How after thirty one years are you still struggling with a fairy tale?" The warrior asked.

"It makes no sense I tell you!" Bootus cried passionately.

"Keep it down!" Alex snapped.

"Don't think it matters. Look." Zinkata pointed to Vivli, who was not only asleep, but cuddled up to her pillow.

"You talk about age. _She's _like a little kid." Bootus grumbled.

"Sure, Fairy Tale Boy." Voldos smirked as he spoke.

"Shut up, Sparky." Bootus countered.

"But I love you!" Voldos screamed from outside, having been thrown out.

"You need a more subtle approach. Be smooth." Zinkata suggested.

"Do what on the who now?" Voldos seemed puzzled by this suggestion. Bootus groaned and the ex-thief laughed.

"You realise its night and we have nowhere to sleep?" Bootus finally said.

"We had better find an inn." Zinkata took his turn to state the obvious. "Tomorrow we'll catch a ship to Windurst."

"Hey, we might even run into Bikke again!" The elvaan joked.

"Master, the Shadow Lord did not co-operate." Signot told Uggalepih.

"Did not co-operate?" Two red eyes beamed out of the shadows. "I'm almost amused." The voice paused. "Very well. I shall deal with him myself. If the Shadow Lord stands before me, then I shall crush him into dust."

"Does that mean-" Signot began.

"Yes. I am fully regenerated." Wings rose from the darkness, and Signot caught his first glimpse of Uggalepih's gigantic demonic form. It sent a chill through his spine despite his preparation for this moment. "The Shadow Lord will fall, and then will this pathetic land."

"And what of the girl?" Signot dared to ask.  
"Find her and kill her. Like this pathetic world, her time is up."


	11. XI

**PART XI**

"_And so, the ultimate question, why do we monks fight?"_

"_To preserve the creation of the Gods, Sensei, that's easy."_

"_Not quite as easy as you may think."_

"_Why? What do you mean?"_

"_We fight the Gods as well."_

"_I don't understand."_

"_The great God Uggalepih, he is still a God."_

"_Well, I hardly meant for his creations."_

"_But his creations are part of our world. Not everything is black and white."_

"_I hate philosophy."_

Bootus was surprised. He was hesitant about waking the sleeping mithra up_. Dammed party, making me all sympathetic _he thought to himself.

"Should we wait?" Bootus asked.

"We can't. The ship will leave soon." Zinkata answered. "Wake her up."

"You do it." The galka replied. Neither were actually sure why they were cautious to.

"But I love you!" Bellowed Voldos and Vivli jolted awake. Alexandria rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Well that settled that." Zinkata mumbled.

"Aw. Is it morning already?" Groaned Vivli.

"Almost afternoon. Get up!" Vivli didn't. She just rolled over back to sleep. This time Zinkata jolted her. "Up! You can sleep on the boat." She blinked a few times as the two adventurers went to find and drag Voldos away from Alex.

Bootus took it upon himself physically. He grabbed and dragged the elf away, who tried to pose as coolly as possible, which, when being dragged away by the gigantic bulk of a galka is not very. Alex laughed as the galka and the elf disappeared out of the door. She was almost sad she was no longer the centre of anybody's attention. Luckily, a crash from the corner of the room instantly gave her something to do.

Vivli was lying on the floor.

"I fell over." She told Alex.

"Yes. I can see that." Alex replied, helping the mithra to her feet. "What happened?"

"I went kinda dizzy. Been happening lately." Vivli replied, shaking her head. Alex cautiously put the back of her hand on Vivli's forehead.

"Wow. You're pretty much burning up." Alex sounded fairly surprised. "You're going to have to stay here."

"She can't." Alex jumped out of her skin. She had been completely unaware Zinkata was still in the room. "We're leaving now. If she's as sick as you say, then the monastery will know what to do."

"You're headed to the monastery?" Alex cried in shock. "But, she really should stay here. I can treat her fine."

"The mages at the monastery will be able to as well." Zinkata gestured to the door. "Come on!"

"But it could be dangerous to travel!" Alex screamed after them.

"It's dangerous to stay here. You haven't seen what hunts us." Zinkata started to pull Vivli away, who seemed confused about who to obey. She helplessly waved to Alex. Alex waved back.

"Hm. This is a problem." She commented.

"Shadow Lord! Reveal yourself!" Bellowed a voice into the darkness. Two glaring purplish eyes glowed in the darkness.

"What makes you think you deserve my audience?" Boomed back another voice.

"You will show yourself." The darkness faded, revealing a desolate landscape. It accumulated in the centre, a shadowy figure.

"I am the Shadow Lord. Nobody orders me." The Shadow Lord stood arrogantly before the gigantic form of Uggalepih. "What makes you think you can stand before me?" He added in a snarl. "I am the very incarnation of pure evil!"

"I _invented _pure evil. I am a God. I am Uggalepih!" The demonic form paused. "What makes you think you can stand before _me?_" He added with amusement.

"Uggalepih? Is that what you call yourself now?" The Shadow Lord circled, but the form of Uggalepih did not move. "I know who you really are. All of time itself could not erase your past. Your false status as a God will be unmasked and you will be destroyed!"

"I am more powerful than any God." Stated Uggalepih. "And if you know who I am, you know why. You know what I can do to you."

"I know." The Shadow Lord replied. "But, then, if you succeed, how can I conquer this world?"

"If you want to fight, do it." Uggalepih let out a loud laugh. "For all the good it will do you."

"Not even I would enter a fight I know I cannot win." The Shadow Lord faded from view. Uggalepih paused. He had been victorious in this confrontation. Another problem was eliminated. Only one remained.

Vivli swayed uneasily as the ship rocked. It had just left port.

"Look. Sit down. Get some rest or something." Bootus instructed her. "Just don't stand there looking ill."

"Hey! I'm not missing this! This is going to be fun!" She wondered up towards the deck. Bootus shrugged and followed.

A few adventurers were fishing. Vivli was staring down at the water crashing by below, although whether she was overly excited or scared out her wits Bootus couldn't tell. Voldos was rubbing his cheek as a young blonde elf stormed off angrily. Presumably his latest attempt to chat up a girl. Zinkata was staring curiously through the bridge at the captain of the ship, who, although at the wheel, seemed to be lost in a daydream. This didn't fill Bootus with confidence.

"What's that?" Somebody commented in surprise. Vivli leant over the edge of the boat, seeing something racing towards them, leaving a gigantic wake behind it.

"It's heading straight for us!" The mithra exclaimed.

"What is?" Zinkata asked quickly.

"ME!" A voice bellowed as it slammed through the back of the ship, crashed through the glass, and rolled onto the deck.

Signot ripped the deck apart with a burst of shadowy energy. Wood flew everywhere, as did adventurers. Several fell from the decks and splashed into the water.

"Signot!" Snapped Zinkata.

"Hello, old friend." Signot snarled while the adventurers assimilated his new look. "As you can see, Fiorel left quite a scar on me before I killed him."

"NO!" Vivli cried, dropping down to her knees.

"Ah, I expected as much." Signot began to walk towards the mithra, but the three surviving party members barred his path. "You know, I was hoping that you might attack me in your rage, that maybe, just for once, we'd do battle. But I always knew in my heart you were too much of a coward. I knew in my heart you didn't have the guts to face me. I knew you'd just cry."

"That's enough, Signot!" Zinkata snapped. Vivli opened her eyes and stopped crying. Something inexplicable was burning inside of her. It was anger. But not the usual kind. It made her stand up.

"You want a fight Signot?" She found herself shouting, although she could barely believe it. "Then why don't you come and get it!" She was, of course, still without a weapon, but this didn't deter her. She marched straight for the evil figure, only to be pulled back by Bootus (yes, by the tail).

"While I admire your sudden courage, I don't admire your combat abilities. Let us handle this." The galka advised.

"You want to handle this?" Signot asked. He opened his arms and looked at the entire ship worth of adventurers, all prepared to attack. "You _all _want to handle this?" Signot laughed. "You have no idea what you face, do you?" He thrust his arms into the air and an orb of shadowy energy spread across the deck, flinging would-be heroes into the ocean or draining the life force from them. Only four stood untouched.

"Impossible!" Barked Signot. Voldos, Zinkata, Bootus and Vivli stood, completely unaffected. "My magic was granted to me by the dark God Uggalepih himself. It makes no sense. It can't be resisted." He paused, before waving a finger at Vivli, who was now shrinking away again. "That brat I can understand. But all four of you? It doesn't seem possible."

"Problems, Signot?" Bootus taunted, smirking.

"No problem that will concern your short lives. Even without my powerful Shadow Magic, I can destroy you." Signot spat.

"Shadow Magic? Shadow's no element I've ever heard of." Voldos quickly said in thought.

"Of course its not. Only Uggalepih himself can grant that power. And nobody can resist it!" Signot screamed.

"You appear to be wrong about that. Just thought I'd point it out." Voldos said with a smile.

"Bah! I will destroy all of you!" Signot drew his blade and ran at them.

In this time Vivli had backed against the small wall at the edge of the ship, and slumped down, curled up.

"Uggalepih." She whimpered. "Uggalepih." The clash of swords rang across the ship as she repeated this name in terror. Her previous moment of courage had disappeared as if it had never existed. She could only watch as the other three adventurers fought. Suddenly, she felt that same burning within her. She rose. It was as if she no longer controlled her actions.

Signot kicked Bootus in the chest and he flew back to the ground. He then span around to face both Voldos and Zinkata. The two warriors had their swords drawn, but couldn't penetrate the defence of Signot's double blade.

"You're not so tough without your Shadow Magic." Bootus taunted.

"My Shadow Magic is reserved for higher foes. It helped me murder that bastard, Fiorel, but matters not in combat against you." He attacked, and Voldos swept down low with his blade. Signot jumped it, back fisting the elvaan warrior. Voldos was knocked unconscious. Bootus got up and jumped. A blast of electricity sent him flying over the edge of the ship, splashing down below.

"Now, Zinkata, let's settle this. One on one. As it should have been." Signot ran at Zinkata, and Zinkata dived to the side.

"We were friends. You through that down the drain and sold yourself out! I wouldn't trade this battle for the world." Zinkata turned about to face his opponent.

"Oh, please, you were only my ally because I needed you to steal the crown of Uggalepih, it was all planned. He came to me in a dream, you see, when I was a young boy. The rest was careful planning. I had known for decades that only you could pull it off. It was your destiny." He laughed. "Your destiny. Now Uggalepih is resurrected and the world is his!"

"Like hell!" Zinkata attacked Signot, who parried him away quite easily with his double bladed weapon. He pulled Zinkata's blade to the ground, and then slashed for his head before the warrior could recover. Zinkata arched backwards, and the blade flew over his head. He pulled his sword up, and sliced Signot's blade in two.

Signot attacked using the two blades, giving Zinkata a very hard time blocking. He turned, and ran up towards the bridge of the ship. Signot leapt into the air, soaring, and landed before him. Zinkata stumbled back. Signot lowered his blades.

"You cannot defeat me. Surrender. Maybe I wont kill you." Zinkata sighed, and hurled his sword at Signot. The dark lord dodged to the side, and it lodged in the wooden cabin of the ship. "Last shot. Looks like you missed." He approached Zinkata, both blades in his hands. He slashed at his head and feet at the same time, from opposite directions. One perfectly timed tuck jump later, and Zinkata had landed on his feet, unharmed. Signot brought the two blades down overhead, and Zinkata grabbed both of his hands, arching back to hold him away.

"Signot!" A voice screamed from atop the cabin. "Take your shot at somebody your own size!" As highly comical as it was to hear Vivli shout this, this is what she said.

"_You?_" Signot was having difficulty believing it. "I'll deal with you in a moment. For now, get down from there." He hurled a gigantic fireball at her. She jumped over it, and landed skilfully. "What?" Signot cried.

"What?" Zinkata cried. _What did I just do? _Vivli's mind screamed. It was almost as if something was possessing her.

"You call that magic, Signot?" Vivli yelled down.

"Oh, I see what's happened. Your-" Signot was cut off.

"I'd love to let you explain, but I don't have time. Let's see how you handle this." A single bolt of energy shot down, slamming into the deck, and causing it to explode in a massive eruption. Signot was blown away. When the smoke settled, he was no longer there. Zinkata had been untouched. Voldos awoke. Vivli had completely collapsed.

It was therefore a strange sight to greet Bootus as he clambered back on deck, soaked.

"What happened?" He screamed, gazing at the gaping hole.

"That little fool realised her potential, it seems." Alexandria told him, walking out from below decks. "I didn't think Signot could deal with it."

"Alex?" Zinkata cried in surprise.

"What? Is it that surprising?" She asked. "I had hoped to confront you in my Seblina when I was fully prepared, but you forced my hand. Signot insisted I gave him first attack. Of course, the illness I had infected Vivli with took care of her even if she was able to awake the spirit inside her and defeat that fool."

"Spirit inside her?" Zinkata repeated curiously.

"Why, yes." She paused. "You don't know, do you? I guessed as much. Suffice to say, that wasn't her fighting. Wasn't her casting. She doesn't even know any Black Magic, let alone a spell like that." Zinkata was curious, but also blinded with rage. He had been betrayed again.

"Leave now, or I'll destroy you!" Zinkata grabbed his weapon from the edge of the cabin. Voldos was beginning to awake.

"I think you should relax. _Slow _down." Zinkata suddenly felt a spell cast on him. He was moving in slow motion. "Or perhaps you should just _stop _altogether." He froze. He couldn't move.

"Voldos. Bootus. Take her!" He growled through his frozen jaw.

"I'd like to point out that had you slept with me, I wouldn't have to do this." Voldos said calmly, picking his sword off the ground.

Alexandria pulled out a long staff, waiting for the two to attack. They stood in front of her. She smirked.

"White Magic is only part of my skills." She warned. "Ifrit! Teach these fools a lesson!" A gigantic flaming portal opened in the sky and the fire demon slammed onto the deck, sending flaming pieces of wood flying everywhere. He glanced to Alex, who gave him a firm instruction to attack. With a one track mind, the monster advanced on the warriors.

"Voldos! Get the girl! I'll deal with this monster!" Bootus cried as he charged for Ifrit.

"Ha! 'Bout time I got the girl!" Voldos joked as he ran for Alexandria. She yawned casually as white light pierced Voldos's body and he stumbled, falling. "Ow." He mumbled.

Ifrit quickly went about obeying its orders, refusing to think or even ponder what they meant. He approached towards the form of the galka, the largest target and so in its simple mind the most important target. Bootus slammed into Ifrit. His fists left firm marks as he struck the body of the gigantic demon.

"Ifrit!" Alexandria yelled. "Use Hell Fire! Burn that stupid galka back into the ages past!" Ifrit lifted a gigantic fireball above his head and slammed it down at Bootus. Bootus was hit and rocketed back across the ship, badly burnt. He got up, surveying the flames beginning to engulf the vessel.

"Oh, I am so sick of having my ass kicked!" He growled, running at the summoned beast.

Voldos flipped to his feet and slashed at Alexandria with his sword. Alexandria leapt over it with superhuman grace, hitting him on the back of the head with her staff.

"I don't know whether I hate you or am turned on more by the fact you betrayed us!" Voldos cried as he shook his head in recovery.

"Can't you stop treating me like an object for one second?" Screamed Alexandria angrily.

"Fine. I'll treat you like an enemy."

"DAMMIT!" Bootus cried as he jumped out the way of another fireball. It burst into smoke as it hit the water off the edge of the ship. "Wait a second, I have an idea!" He ran and threw himself at Ifrit. He hit the burning creature, and felt his entire body blister from the heat. Ifrit stumbled back, slamming into the edge of the ship. The demon hit Bootus to the ground. It rose up to fling another fireball at him. He sprang up, kicking it. Ifrit stumbled back. Bootus leapt up, trying desperately to throw the summoned monster into the ocean. Ifrit refused to move, and hurled Bootus across the deck. He glanced up as the demon of fire charged him. _Made it easy for me, _he thought as he rolled to the side and the creature charged off the deck. He got up and dusted himself off as the creature exploded into ash as it touched the water. A gigantic burst of smoke engulfed his view.

"What?" Alexandria turned to face her disappearing summon.

"I hate to break up like this, but it's just not working out." Voldos said casually as he shot an arrow at the distracted Alexandria. It struck her to the chest and she staggered back. "But we can still be friends!" He cried after her as she fell of the ship in shock and pain.

Zinkata stumbled forwards. He could move again. He surveyed the chaos. The ship was burning, but seemed to be under control. Several adventurers lay across the ship, dead. There was a gigantic hole in the deck of the vessel. And, to his surprise, casually, the captain was still at the wheel, in his daydream like state. He hadn't even noticed the battle raging.

"Urm, Captain?" The ex-thief asked, approaching the blown out glass of the bridge.

"Steve. Call me Steve." The man called Steve said.

"Okay. Steve." He said cautiously. "Notice anything odd?"

"Odd? No. I've sailed the oceans for years. I've seen odd. This is just mildly strange." He replied casually.

"I think he's crazy." Whispered Bootus.

"That's what they used to call me." Steve said. "Crazy Steve. But then, I'd say, how do they know their not crazy and I'm sane, but they can't tell because their crazy? Once I'd asked that, they'd usually go away."

"Right. We're going to go over there now." Zinkata backed away from Steve. Voldos surveyed the wreckage and bent down by Vivli. She was still alive. He picked her up, mildly surprised by how light she was, and headed to the bow of the ship.

"Looks like the shore is coming up." The elf told the others.

"We're now arriving at Mhaura docks!" Announced Steve. "Thank you for journeying with us. I hope you enjoyed a pleasant ride."

"Pleasant ride?" Zinkata yelled. "Does it look like we had a pleasant ride?"

"I don't know. I only hoped you did. I didn't say that you _had._" Steve replied.

"ARGH!" Zinkata yelled in anger.


	12. XII

**PART XII**

"_Hey, Voldos, maybe you should have a more interesting topic of conversation when it comes to talking to girls."_

"_Like? I can hardly just spin bad chat up lines."_

"_Try it."_

"_Hey, are you tired, 'cause you've been walking through my mind all day."_

"_That looked like it hurt."_

"_It did."_

"_Was funny though."_

"_Think she stormed off."_

"_Just try it on somebody else."_

"_You just want to see me get slapped."_

"_It is pretty funny."_

"_Fine. I'll do it."_

Voldos placed Vivli's body gently down on the bed. He turned to face the High Priestess. She was finishing talking to Zinkata.

"Your story meets pretty much what we know." She told him. "But, from what I've heard, events are already in motion."

"What events?" Voldos asked as he turned around, fed up with being kept in the dark.

"A pretty harsh attitude from the heroes that are going to help save the world." The Priestess said as the others jaws dropped.

"Care to explain that one?" Zinkata quickly shot the obvious question.

"Of course." The Priestess remarked. "As you have no doubt become aware, Uggalepih, the evil God, has been brought into the physical world."

"Thought as much." Remarked Bootus.

"You may have also noticed, by the way it sounds, his Shadow Magic used by his follower." She waited for a casual nod before continuing. "Shadow Magic is a lethal power. Only one other creature in the world ever had access to it. The Demon Lord Chaos."

Vivli was finding this out in a much more dramatic way. She had awoken on the edge of a cliff, in a black void. A gigantic bronze demon floated before her, purple eyes glowing angrily. She was wearing a long blue robe and a pointed hat. Like an older version of the typical Black Mage attire. There was a warrior in red to her side, a monk in blue, and what appeared to be a White Mage. The demon was speaking.

"After two thousand years I will be forgotten and the time loop will close!" He announced triumphantly. "I will live forever, and you will meet your doom!"

"This is it." Vivli found herself saying. "Let's give him hell!"

"FOR GAIA!" Screamed the warrior. He ran at Chaos.

"Okay, the usual drill. I'll pin him down with magic!" Vivli ordered. "Just keep him busy on the melee front!"

"I'm trying!" Remarked the monk as he dodged a claw shooting down at him. Vivli blasted a lightning bolt from her hand and it slammed into what could only be Chaos's top shoulder. The warrior drove his sword at him, and Chaos knocked it aside with ease. His spear like tail lashed into the monk, taking him out. He blasted the entire party with an incredible bolt of lightning, knocking them all back.

"Chaos? As in the bad guy from the legend?" Zinkata was trying to reassure himself.

"It is no legend. Over a million years ago, Vana'diel was not Vana'diel at all, but a land named Gaia. It was powered by the original four elemental crystals. Chaos sought to destroy these. You know the legend." She waited for them to nod again. "Yet, did you ever wonder why only the Light Warriors stood up to Chaos, and not the armies of the land?"

"I chalked it down to bad story telling." Bootus grumbled.

"It was because Chaos possessed the power of Shadow Magic, a power that could easily kill any number of people. Except for the four Light Warriors."

"I don't understand." Voldos muttered.

"They each possessed a shard from the four crystals. Sometimes these are called orbs in the legend. It doesn't matter. Since Chaos drew his power from the four crystals, these four shards could cancel it out." The Priestess paused again. "It soon become evident the spirit of the crystal shards was absorbed into the souls of the Light Warriors, giving them the power to resist such evil magic, no matter what."

"So why could we resist it? None of us are Light Warriors." Voldos pointed out what he thought was obvious.

"Actually, one of you is." The Priestess said as she pointed at Vivli.

"Dammit! Heal them!" Vivli ordered as she looked at the collapsed warrior and monk. The White Mage rushed to them.

"Just you and me, now." Chaos snarled. The Demon Lord soared towards Vivli. Inside she was screaming in fear, but outside she remained calm. This was a memory. She was not in control.

"Unlucky for you." She began to cast something. She felt her body shake. It was a spell that could not exist. Its power she had never felt. She was weakening just trying to cast it. "For every force of darkness there is light. For every power of evil there is good. For every moment of chaos, there is order." A gigantic white ball had formed in her hands. "For every one force, there is another to crush it. And so it is, the force of Ultima shall judge you!" _Ultima? _Bolts of white light streaked into the air, and a strange symbol formed on the ground.

"Ha. Is that it?" Asked Chaos with a laugh. "Killing you shall be more fun than I thought." There was a pause before he screamed out in pain. Hundreds upon hundreds of blue bolts rocketed from the sky, piercing into the back of the Demon Lord. Vivli's face lit up with blue light as they ripped through the bronze body of the evil being. He dropped to the floor, his armour ripped to shreds. Vivli collapsed also, exhausted.

"Vivli?" Exclaimed Bootus, laughing. "A Light Warrior? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! And I regularly listen to Voldos speak!" The elvaan went to defend himself, but the Priestess continued talking.

"That is why Uggalepih has been so relentlessly hunting her." The High Priestess explained. "She is his greatest threat because he cannot harm her."

"Can't harm her? What about us? Signot couldn't harm us either!" Bootus pointed out. "This is a load of rubbish."

"It was her own aura that protected you." The Priestess was pondering the story they had told. "How else do you explain what happened on the ship? That spell she cast, nobody has seen anything like it for almost a million years. It's called Nuke. One of the most powerful Black Magic spells ever to exist, but it was lost to the ages."

"Vivli can't cast Black Magic!" Bootus snapped.

"True. But the spirit of the Light Warrior within her _can. _It was awoken." The Priestess paused again. She liked doing that. It made things more dramatic. "Surely that is all the proof you need?"

"I'm not saying I'm buying this," Bootus began, "But if Vivli is the only one who can stand up to Uggalepih, what's she going to do? Viciously heal him?"

"That's why she needs you." She paused. "Or you need her. Either way, all four of you together seem to be able to resist Shadow Magic, and this means you can defeat Uggalepih."

"Defeat a God? Even if we can resist his magic, he's still insanely powerful!" Voldos pointed out.

"I never said it would be easy." The Priestess replied.

Chaos rose before her, but she was without energy to move. Inside she screamed as loud as she could. Tears wanted to escape but wouldn't. Not in this memory.

"Hey! Chaos!" The Demon Lord turned, despite his injuries, to see the warrior running at him. The warrior leapt onto his arm, ran up it, and jumped onto his head, driving his sword down into him. Chaos stood still for a moment, sword lodged in his head.

"Heh. I didn't think it was possible." He managed to mutter, before exploding in a gigantic display of white light. Vivli was flung back helplessly.

And startled awake in her bed, surprised to find the High Priestess and the others discussing her.

"I understand!" She announced. "You're not going to believe this, but I'm a Light Warrior!"

"We know, Vivli." Sighed Bootus.

"Look, as it is, you can't possibly face Uggalepih." The High Priestess explained.

"So how can we stand up to him?" Bootus asked.

"If you could locate the four crystal shards of the original Light Warriors, it might give you enough power to destroy the evil God." The High Priestess suggested.

"We find four million year old crystals? Any idea how?" Zinkata asked, his voice drenched in sarcasm.

"We have one at the monastery. Vivli was clutching it when we found her as a baby. How we figured out her destiny." The Priestess explained. "As for the others, I do not know. The Grand Duke at Jeuno may, however."

"We get to meet the Grand Duke?" Voldos exclaimed.

"You're escorting a Light Warrior now. You'll meet lots of people." The Priestess told the elf.

"Fine. We'll head to Jeuno." Bootus sighed. "Been meaning to pick up a chocobo licence anyway."

"I hate chocobos." Vivli grumbled. "They smell horrible."

"Then you can walk while we ride." Bootus said smugly.

"It's great to be back at the monastery!" Vivli cried happily as they walked down a small stone corridor. "I was getting so homesick."

"Don't get too comfortable." Voldos advised. "We're heading to Jeuno as soon as possible."

"Can we stop by my room?" She asked. "I want to at least get another staff!"

"You go through those things hell of a quickly." Zinkata pointed out.

"Not my fault some people do a lousy job of protecting their White Mage." She grumbled. They came to a small door with pink flowers painted on it.

"_That is your room?_" Bootus said in disbelief.

"Yes." She answered.

"Please can I mock her? Please?" He pleaded with the others. She sighed and swung open her door.

The interior didn't do much for her credibility. Pink bed sheets for starters made Bootus laugh.

"And _she's _the reincarnated Light Warrior. It's not fair." The galka grumbled.

"Just get your staff." Zinkata mumbled, trying to ignore the galka. Vivli opened her wardrobe and removed an old smooth wooden staff from within. It was fairly short, and engraved with a message the others couldn't make out. She clipped it on her belt. Inside the wardrobe Bootus caught a glimpse of plenty of dresses, which made him laugh even more. As someone always in a robe, he suddenly found it hilarious picturing Vivli in a dress.

"Okay, everyone out!" She snapped, sick of being laughed at. They ambled out. She caught a glimpse of herself in her mirror. She decided she looked fairly rough, after what she had been through. She fiddled with her hair for a moment before Bootus reached in and pulled her along.

"This is no time for your extreme vanity!" He snapped.

"I stopped for a second! And between being possessed, washed up, beaten up and drowned I only think it's fair!" Bootus paused in contemplation, and then proceeded to drag her away.

The four had decided to head for Jeuno the following morning. Vivli seemed happy with this as it meant she got to spend the night at her monastery, instead of rushing directly off into dangerous lands again. Bootus was less happy, surrounded by mages. Zinkata and Voldos were happy enough, because they managed to get some free food and a free bed for the night, which sure beat camping outside in the wilderness. Voldos was even happier because of the amount of attractive female mages in the monastery, Of course, when Zinkata reminded him this was a monastery, and so the mages were probably not open to his ideas of 'partenership'. Voldos sadly took this up as a challenge.

Zinkata wondered down one of the small stone corridors, feeling full, but not tired enough to sleep. He came to a small balcony that overlooked the planes of Windurst, complete with the tiny rivers sparkling in the rising moonlight. The sound of quiet sobbing was coming from this direction.

Vivli had her face down on the small wall, crying to herself. Zinkata sighed and walked up to her.

"You alright?" It wasn't the cleverest question he had ever asked.

"No." She sobbed.

"Okay, why?" He said after some time.

"Look at it all. It's so beautiful." She looked out across the planes. "And Uggalepih is going to destroy it all."

"No he's not. We'll stop him." Zinkata said comfortingly.

"No we won't. The entire fate of the world rests on me." She cried some more. "How can I save the world? The weight of the world is heavy, and I'm not very strong." She somehow still thought up a clever metaphor despite being so upset. "I can't handle this responsibility!" She broke down, crying some more.

"We're there for you. We're going to help you." Zinkata was trying his best to keep her comforted.

"So what if we fail? Why me? I can't take care of myself, let alone the entire world!" She slumped down against the wall. "I can't do this! I can't face it! Why me? Why? When there are so many more courageous people in the world?" She just kept screaming questions. Zinkata opted to take the easy way out, and backed away, leaving her to her sorrows. It wasn't that he didn't care, it was that he just didn't know what to say.

He bumped into Bootus on the way out.

"Look, don't go out there. She's pretty upset. I don't think talking to you is going to help." The ex-thief advised.

"Don't see what she's so upset about." Bootus grumbled.

"No. You wouldn't." Zinkata replied.

"You don't understand what I mean." Bootus began.

Vivli heard their voices, and could only assume they were talking about her. She walked over to the entrance, and listened carefully.

"The way I see it," The galka began, "She's one of the bravest people I know. I mean, truly brave. In these times, so many people are born with courage in their hearts, they act so heroically, but it's in their nature. It's not in hers. Yet, she fights anyway. She _doesn't _have the heroics that makes so many people, she _doesn't _have the courage, yet she still fights. If that's not brave, I don't know what is." Vivli blinked. It didn't sound like Bootus. Bootus usually made crude jokes and laughed at inappropriate times. She had stopped crying. She ran out around the corner and threw her arms around the galka, showing just how comforted she was.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed. "You made me feel so much better." She paused. "See? I knew you liked me really."

"No, ur, I was just, we were-" The little mithra ran off happily. "We were rehearsing lines for a play!" Bootus cried after her. He sighed. He had a feeling she wasn't convinced.

"Why do you want her to think you hate her so much?" Zinkata asked curiously.

"It's simple. She's far too dependant on us. So I make sure she can't be." Bootus explained.

"I think you just enjoy being mean." Zinkata taunted. Voldos wondered into the room rubbing he cheek for mysterious reasons. No comment was needed.

Signot's dead body crumpled to the floor.

"You have failed me for the last time." Uggalepih told the now deceased villain. "I shall have to deal with them myself."


	13. XIII

**PART XIII**

"_And so their journey began-"_

"_Aw, Uncle Swignot, I don't want to here this story again."_

"_Nothing's wrong with this story."_

"_You tell me it all the time!"_

"_It's the most inspiring legend in our history. You have to learn it."_

"_I have! I bet I could tell it to you by now."_

"_Ahem. What awaits the four, they do not know. Each hold-"_

"_Holding an orb that two thousand years ago shined with beauty from within. But now, only darkness. See? I do know it."_

"_You are yet to have learnt the ending."_

"_What's that mean."_

"_Oh. Nothing. You'll find out when you're older."_

It struck Zinkata that Signot had been obsessed with the Light Warrior legend when he was younger. Of course, to him, it had just been playful story telling to keep him entertained. But now it suddenly had a more sinister purpose. Back then, it had been fun, he had enjoyed his childhood, and he remembered Signot laughing, and having a good time to. He shook his head in disbelief. Could it all have been a ruse? It hurt him to the core that it was very possibly true.

The four adventurers were walking along a rocky path, heading towards Jeuno. A gigantic spine ran across the entire area (it was almost impossible to imagine a creature big enough to have ever owned such a spine, it ran for what appeared to be miles.) Voldos shivered uneasily as he saw it, and was a little surprised Vivli was so perfectly calm seeing the sign of a once mighty monster. She was used to it, of course, it was a famous landmark in the Windurst area. That, and she seemed absorbed in her own problem.

She was saying very little, often looking as if she was in pain. She'd occasionally stop and strangely cradle her tail. As you can imagine, this was confusing the others, but the most tell-tale sign that something was wrong was that she hadn't complained about being left behind for quite a while. As usual, she was quite a distance behind the others, unable to keep up with their fast pace, but she had made no comment.

Zinkata let out a sigh. At least it would take his mind off his own problems.

"I'll bite. What's wrong?"_ He knew he could be a bit harsher than with his usual treatment. In the days they had been adventuring, he had learnt how Vivli behaved when she was upset. This was different._

"Urm, nothing." Vivli stumbled over her words.

"Well, you _have _to tell us now." Bootus grumbled. "So get it out so we can start moving again."

"You'll laugh." She whimpered.

"I laugh at you anyway." Bootus reminded her.

"Well, it's just-" Vivli paused awkwardly. "My tail really hurts." Bootus did, indeed, laugh. "I think you've strained it using it as a leash!" Vivli yelled over his laughing, looking for sympathy. However, to use a far too common metaphor, getting sympathy from Bootus is like squeezing blood from a rock. Voldos turned around, having come up with a carefully planned witty comment, and decided now was the time to unleash it on the others.

"If only we had a White Mage!" He cried sarcastically. "Then she could heal your wounds! But, oh my, where will we find one?" Vivli stared at him blankly.

"White Magic can't heal strains and the like. Why do you think you still ache after a cure spell?" Voldos went to reply, but clearly couldn't.

"The way I see it," Bootus began, "Is that we can either get a move on, or I can drag you." He paused. "By the tail." Vivli quickly responded to this by hurrying along as quickly as she could.

"Could you at least promise to leave my tail alone from now on?" The mage quickly asked.

"I promise nothing!" Snapped the galka.

A low roar pierced the air from a distance.

"Did anybody hear that?" Zinkata asked slowly, stopping.

"If you mean the big scary roar, then yes." Vivli replied, holding her tail which she had allowed to go limp.

"Scary? Yeah, right. I could take it!" Bootus was sadly tested. 'It' soared over their heads, a gigantic black dragon. Bootus threw himself to the floor, and by the time he clambered up, it was gone. The others looked just as scared (except Vivli, who looked about ten times _more _scared).

"Some. Nice. Taking. It. There." Vivli's wit was slowed by fear, but she was still proud to have gotten a jab in at Bootus.

"Well, Li, you're the local expert. What the hell was that?" Zinkata asked. Vivli looked pale with fear.

"I have no idea." She said blankly.

"Wuss." Snarled Bootus.

"Hey! I'm a Light Warrior!" She protested.

"Which I still refuse to believe." Bootus filled in.

"You're not a Light Warrior." Zinkata interjected as the middleman. "You carry a Light Warrior's spirit. You're reincarnated as one."

"Helluva cowardly Light Warrior if she's got his spirit!" Bootus smirked.

"I was the leader actually." Vivli countered smugly.

"How did they ever beat Chaos?" Bootus asked to nobody.

"I think we may have to be more careful." Zinkata suggested. "If that dragon had seen us, we would have been toast."

"Yeah, it would have come down and ripped us apart." Bootus admitted, looking in Vivli's direction. "We wouldn't have stood a chance. It would have torn right through us. Of course, not killing us, just wounding us enough to leave us slowly dieing in the dust as it prepared to eat us alive for its next meal and-"

"That's enough!" Vivli cried, having gone ghastly pale and feeling quite sick. Bootus laughed.  
"You are so easy to scare." He told her.

"Let's just get out of here before whatever that was comes back." Voldos suggested in an attempt to break up the adventurer's quarrel.

The four continued down the path, considerably less at ease than they had been.

"There was something odd about that dragon." Vivli decided. "It felt as if it was summoned."

"How could you feel it?" Bootus asked moodily.

"Well, I'm not really sure. I could sense its power. That's nothing special. A lot of mages can do that if something is powerful enough." She paused, glancing to the floor. "Anyway, and something was off. Like it didn't belong here. It had been summoned."

"Why would somebody summon a dragon to fly over us?" Voldos shot the obvious question.

"Maybe it wasn't intended for us?" Vivli suggested. The others shrugged, and they continued walking.

Night fell before they could hope to reach Jeuno. They quickly went about the standard procedure of setting up a fire and gathering around it. Tents were ill advised for monsters could get to them without being seen, and were very powerful in these parts, so they decided to stick by the flames. The light was enough to scare off any undead, so they were mostly safe.

Of course, 'mostly' wasn't enough for Vivli, and she was continuously nervously glancing out into the darkness. The fire crackled, built by a large slope, meaning attacks could only come from one side. At least, that was the theory.

"You know, sometimes I think I'd miss this." Zinkata commented. "Camping by the fire, out in the wilderness threatened by danger. It's fun."

"Yeah, well, I'm scared." Vivli replied.

"No surprise there then." Bootus sighed. Vivli shot him an angry glance. This made Zinkata notice something.

"Hey, Li, you aren't one to be talking about being scared." He advised her.

"What do you mean?" Vivli shot back.

"Your eyes." He explained. "They look really spooky. Almost glowing blue." She blinked, as if that would help her see her own eyes. Voldos looked and noticed this as well, her large blue eyes were lit by the fire, creating a creepy glow. The elf shuddered.

"Hm." Bootus grumbled. "You're right. I say we throw her out in the dark, incase she's possessed or something."

"Very funny." Vivli grumbled. "You wouldn't do that." She looked at the galka. "Would you?" He went to nod, but glances from the other two stopped him. Vivli yawned.

"I'm going to sleep." She decided, curling up by the fire. The others continued to talk, but she was too tired to notice. Of course, this didn't mean she fell to sleep right away. For starters, the floor was cold and hard, and she was very uncomfortable. The heat from the fire just helped emphasise how cold her back was. She shuffled uncomfortable, before getting a chill. She realised facing the fire, her back was exposed to the dark wildeness, and anything could be watching from the darkness and creeping up on her. She shivered, turning around to check, but couldn't see anything out there. This made her shiver more. She turned back around, wishing she was up against the slope (where Bootus was sat) so nothing was behind her. Unfortunatly, her over active imagination kicked in and she started to imagine a gigantic monster crawling over the slope, and plucking her away while she wasn't looking. For some reason, in her imagination, it was a giant spider. She hated spiders. _Why would I think of that? _she asked herself, _am I trying to scare myself? _Because of this, she decided to stay where she was. She looked at the others. They were completely oblivious to how she felt. What she really wanted was for one to offer for her to cuddle up to them, so she could keep warm and feel safe. Nobody did. She sighed. They weren't watching her. That meant she could get out something she had picked up from her room at the monastery while nobody was looking. She reached into her bag and pulled out a worn and battered teddy bear, with a faded pink bow on its ear. She cuddled it tight, and curled up more against the fire, using her bag as a pillow.

Her eyes opened wearingly to the blinding sunlight. She breathed a sigh of relief, allowing her body to untense, having discovered nothing happened during the night. She looked in her arms, but only found a scribbled note.

Dear Miss Vivli,

We have kidnapped your bear and are holding it for a ransom of one million gil. Pay us, or we'll mail it back to you in pieces.

"Bootus!" She yelled instantly.

"What?" The galka casually replied, chewing on a cooked leg of something (Vivli didn't try to guess what it had been).

"Give me back my bear!" She cried. Bootus just fell backwards on the floor, laughing. "Come on! It isn't funny!"

"I respectfully disagree." Voldos smirked from the side.

"Come on!" Whined the mithra. "That thing meant a lot to me."

"Aw, can the wittle girl not live without her teddy?" Bootus patted her on the head patronisingly.

"Dammit! I'm not a little kid!" She cried infuriated.

"Aren't you currently complaing that your teddy bear has been stolen?" Zinkata asked casually. He wanted to sit out, but it was too much fun to point that out.

"There's nothing childish about having a teddy bear!" Vivli snapped.

"Again, I respectfully disagree." Voldos interjected, chewing on some food.

"Please?" Vivli sobbed.

"Fine, it's over there." Bootus sighed irritably.

Of course, Bootus's irritation was an act. He knew perfectly well where the bear was. He had hung it, by its bow, to the branch of a rotting tree just away from the campsite. He had reached up and put it there easily. Now he could watch Vivli try and get it down.

Vivli reached up, failing miserably. She jumped, and still failed. She let out an irritable sigh. She tried shaking the tree, to no avail. Her eyes lit up as she got a bright idea. She unbuckled her staff, and threw it up, trying to knock it down. She tried this a few times, and ended up with her staff stuck up the tree.  
"Dammit!" She cried.

"You really must make up the entire staff business of Vana'diel." Zinkata laughed. "No wonder they sell so many. You're always losing them!" He added for further reiteration of his joke.

"This isn't fair!" Vivli yelled grouchily. She had just woken up and wasn't in the best of moods. "You people always mock me!"

"You do make it kind of easy." Zinkata pointed out. She looked up at the teddy bear.

"But I like my bear. Keeps me feeling safe." She whimpered, glancing to the ground. She looked up slowly to Zinkata, teary eyed. It was difficult to tell if she was putting it on, or it was a result of the stress of the past few days. Either way, Zinkata instantly felt incredibly sorry for her and reached down her stuff.

"I can't believe you fell for the old puppy dog expression!" Bootus snapped.

"Don't you mean kitty cat expression?" Voldos asked.

"I'm not good when it comes to specifics!" Bootus cried back.

A short time later and the party had hit the road again, walking still in the direction of Jeuno. A screech from behind them made sure they all ducked. The black dragon soared over them and span around, thudding down hard directly in front of them.

"It's back!" Vivli screamed as she stumbled backwards, falling over.

"Thanks for that. Didn't notice!" Bootus yelled as he charged the creature. It spat a ball of green fire at him and he found himself rocketing back down the path, badly burnt. "Dammit Li!" He yelled as the little mithra sat, shaking on the floor. "Do something! Heal me!" The instant she heard Bootus confess he wanted to be healed, she snapped out of her fear induced trance.

Jumping to her feet she cast a bright white light over Bootus. He rose up. Voldos and Zinkata had their hands full trying to subdue the dragon.

"Dia!" Vivli yelled as she cast the spell of the same name.

"Thanks for announcing that one, Viv." Zinkata cried sarcastically, dodging the chops of the dragons mouth. The dragon jerked back as Vivli finished the spell and a white light pierced it. This distraction gave Voldos a chance to slice through its neck with his sword. Green juice spewed forth, before the wound quickly healed.

"We might have a problem." The elf admitted.

"Never fear, friend!" A deep voice cried from behind. A blue armoured blur ran and leapt onto the dragon's head. It was struck by lightning as this happened. Black Magic, clearly. The figure swept his sword through the dragon's neck, taking it out. It dropped down dead. "Let's see it regenrate from that." The figure remarked, now clearly a man in dark blue armour, with large horns on the helmet, mostly helmeted, but dull grey eyes could be made out and a fairly majestic purple cape flowing behind him. He was clearly some form of dark knight.

"I've been tracking that bastard for a good couple of days." The knight told them. "Glad to see I finally got him before he could take out you chaps."

"Who are you?" Voldos asked.

"My name is Garland. I'm a knight, headed Jeuno way. That where you fella's are going?" His cape bellowed in the wind as he spoke, like some perfect hero.

"Yeah, actually, it is." Voldos replied.

"Say no more, old friend, we can travel together. I can watch your back." Voldos didn't even notice the 'old friend' comment. It made no sense considering he had known him for about twenty seconds, but he let it slide.

Vivli had fallen over again when Garland had run past. She got up, dusting herself off now, feeling a deep chill at seeing the figure for reasons she didn't know why.

"Wow, you didn't tell me you had the Goddess of beauty in your party!" Garland exclaimed. Vivli nervously giggled, before regaing control of herself. "And who might you be?"

"Vivli." She answered nervously. She was very flattered by the mysterious knight. Suddenly her brain rocketed into overdrive.

This didn't make sense. Nobody talked to anybody like this man did. And to top it off, she felt something was wrong. She pondered this as the others ran their introductions. There was something deep down she couldn't quite remember. Something that made her suspicious. And it was all so convenient.

The dragon was summoned. This she knew. What if it had been summoned in some plot so Garland would kill it? It seemed so likely to her, but she knew the others would dismiss it.

"I know you Goddess types can't waste your time on the mortals, but we really must be moving." Garland advised. Vivli snapped out of it, finding herself flattered again. _Dammit, think rationally! _her brain screamed. "Follow me!" Garland led the way as the party ventured forth, ever closing on Jeuno.


	14. XIV

**PART XIV**

"_Hand her over!"_

"_Nobody touches my Princess!"_

"_Your Princess? She belongs to no-one. Now, hand her over, or in the name of the Light Warriors we will strike you down."_

"_Light Warriors?"_

"_We bear the four orbs of Light. We will use their power if we must. Stand down."_

"_You impertinent fools!"_

"_Surrender!"_

The voices echoed in Vivli's head loudly. They were like hearing the actual words being spoken, not just imagination. _What's this about, _she thought, rubbing her temples from the headache they were causing. She had a feeling it was related to her dark feeling about Garland, some form of fear deep inside her. She couldn't place it.

She sighed. They were still trekking through the rocky canyons leading to Jeuno. Just rocks, rocks and more rocks. Even the last trees had faded from view.

"Their called Shadow Dragons." Garland explained, in mid-conversation. "Made purely of the lethal magic of the dark God Uggalepih."

"Boy, he's been busy lately." Bootus sighed.

"More than you know." Garland replied. "More and more creatures born of his magic are cropping up. I've dedicated my life recently to fighting them."

"A strange profession for a dark knight." Zinkata said in admiration. Vivli grumbled. They were all too fast to trust this stranger.

"These are strange times." Garland replied, strolling along ahead of the party. Vivli saw a chance to get a jab in at Garland. She wanted to. He acted to 'perfect'. No flaws. She had one.

"How can you say that?" She asked, running to catch up. "Strange times? Why? Because we're in conflict? The world is always in conflict. From Chaos to the Shadow Lord, we're always fighting."

"Wow. Beauty and brains." Garland remarked. Vivli rose an eyebrow. She wasn't falling for it this time. "Where did you find her?" Garland turned to the others in awe.

"Finding her isn't the problem. Getting rid of her is." Bootus remarked with a smirk. For a moment, Vivli pondered whether her irrational distrust of Garland would be better directed at a larger, and more annoying target.

"You certainly have a point," Garland conceded, "I forgot to think of the big picture. You are, of course right, we are always in conflict with something or someone. It's our nature I suppose." Vivli smiled. She had won.

_Dammit! her mind suddenly screamed as she realised Garland was again just trying to flatter her into being perfectly trusting. Not after Alex. I'm not trusting anybody!_

"She looks a little moodier than usual." Voldos remarked, pointing to the little mithra.

"Moodier than usual? I didn't know that was possible." Bootus joked.

"Oh, come on old chaps, it's obvious, isn't it?" Garland smiled under his helmet. "She's just nervous around me. I'm new. She doesn't trust me. It's very wise, as well. In these strange-" He paused, looking to Vivli with a warm smile that was just about visible, "In these dark times," He corrected himself, "Who can you trust?"

"You saved our lives, that's often a pointer for me in who to trust." Zinkata said with a nod.

"Alexandria saved my life, and look at what she did." Vivli countered without thinking.

"Alexandria?" Garland asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter." Vivli said with a sad shake of her head. "It's complicated."

"So many things are." Garland's response was strangely curious.

A strange squelching sound alerted the party that something was wrong. They all stopped, Voldos and Zinkata drawing weapons.

"Odd." Garland remarked. "That sounds like a Malboro."

"Why's that odd?" Vivli quickly asked.

"They hate these rocky climates." Garland explained as they spotted a Malboro nestled neatly in the canyon. Its gigantic green vine like arms trashed around as drool emerged from its huge mouth, gigantic yellow pointed teeth snapped threateningly. "Why would one be out here? Unless it was chasing someone?"

"Why are you all looking at me!" Vivli snapped.

"Never mind. Let's take this thing down!" Zinkata charged it, sword drawn, followed by Voldos and Garland. Bootus sighed.

"Here we go again."

Garland leapt onto one of its tentacles, using it as a boost to land on its head. He went to stab it, but was caught and flung off.

Vivli's eyes opened wide as she saw Garland fly towards her, slamming into her. She was crushed beneath the heavily armoured figure.

_How'd that ceiling get there? was her first thought. She blinked a couple of times. Her body ached all over. She got up slowly. She was in a bed in what appeared to be a rent-a-room._

"You're awake." She screamed at hearing this. She looked to her left. The speaker was Garland, who had removed his helmet. He had a plain face, grey lifeless eyes and long silvery hair. "Whoa, relax."

"What happened?" She asked, cuddling her own arms around herself in an attempt to stop the pain.

"You were crushed. By me." He confessed with a nervous laugh. "I'm really sorry."

"Wasn't your fault." Vivli squirmed. _Or was it?_ Zinkata popped his head in, now wearing new silver armour.

"Hey, you're awake!" Zinkata cried happily, running in.

"Just about." She squirmed, aching.

"Thanks to Garland here." Zinkata pointed to the dark knight.

"Nonsense friend, you're the one who sorted out the rent-a-room for her." Garland responded.  
"Only because you wouldn't leave her side. For four days, you've been out." Zinkata countered. "The only time he went away from you was to find a White Mage to help you get healed quicker." _Garland did that for me? _Vivli sat up.

"Urm, thanks." She paused. She had something akward to say. "I guess I owe you an apology."

"Apology? Why?" Garland seemed oblivious.

"For not trusting you. Seems like you did a lot for me, and I didn't even trust you." Vivli sighed. Something still felt wrong, but every logical pathway in her brain was telling her that she was being irrational.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Garland replied. "It's perfectly logical to distrust a stranger. I've been through that."

"Either way, I feel really bad. Will you except my apology?" Vivli asked, trying not to sound too ashamed of herself.

"Of course I will." Garland replied with a smile.

"Would you three get a move on?" Bootus asked, popping his head in the door. "We have an appointment with the Grand Duke remember."

"Grand Duke?" Vivli had completely forgotten about the entire reason they had been heading to Jeuno.

"Yeah, once we arrived and found a place for you to recover, Voldos and Bootus went to make an appointment." Garland explained. "We're going to have to move soon." Vivli rose up, pulling her tattered robe over herself.

"Let's go." She grumbled, wishing she hadn't woken up yet.

"Like that? To see the Grand Duke?" Garland laughed. "No. You need to appear formally." He added as an explanation.

"Sorry, I forgot to pack." Vivli replied, half as a joke and half as a bitter comment.

"I'll find you something. Same goes for the rest of you. We need formal armour, clothing, something like that." Garland explained.

"I love being a monk." Bootus smiled, having discovered that the Grand Duke never expected monks to change out of their gi's due the symbolism involved.

"I'd take shiny armour anyday." Voldos laughed, now dressed in shining silver armour and a long red cape. Rented from the San D'Orian embassy to help represent the elves. Zinkata was dressed in dark blue armour with a purple cape, exactly like Garland's. The dark knight had leant it to him to wear as he lacked the money for fancy armour.

"Laugh and somebody dies." Vivli's voice snapped angrily. They turned around to see her wearing a white silk dress, with long white gloves, leaving only her shoulders and top of her chest bare. She was slightly taller than usual, in high heels, and didn't look pleased.

"What are you moaning about?" Bootus asked. "You had plenty of dresses back in Windurst."

"I don't wear them. Not around you adventurers anyway." Of course, she didn't actually mind wearing it, she quite liked it, but she'd never admit it around the party.

"Why don't you just wear armour then?" Zinkata asked.

"Armour slows me down. Can't move as quickly." She replied, sounding slightly nervous.

"Yeah, curse all that slow moving during a meeting with the Grand Duke." Bootus taunted.

"Besides, it's better to be able to take hits and be a bit slower than to collapse as soon as the first dark knight lands on you!" Voldos added.

"That wasn't funny!" Vivli snapped.

"So, yeah, I think we should get you some armour." Bootus explained. Vivli muttered something. "Sorry, what was that?"

"But I'm not strong enough!" She snapped, louder than she would have liked. Bootus broke down in fits of giggles. "I mean, most armour is really heavy. Light stuff I can wear, but its pointless, and heavy stuff I can't stand up in." This explanation just caused Bootus to laugh more. "Oh, shut up!" She yelled.

"You four ready?" Garland asked, walking over to the group.

"Dunno, better ask Vivli." Bootus suggested. Vivli gave him a strange glance. "That dress might be a little heavy for her." He cracked up into laughter, barely being able to remain stood up. Unfortunatly, this lowered his face to Vivli's level so she managed a powerful sounding slap. Garland whinced as he saw this.

"Maybe we should just get a move on." He said wearingly.

"Now, you two be on your best behaviour." Voldos said in his most patronising tone to the galka and mithra.

"But it's his fault!" Vivli complained. Voldos sighed. It was better not to get her started. The five adventurers walked off, heading for the top of the gigantic tower at the centre of the city.

"Did nobody remember to tell me it was this far up?" Vivli panted from behind the group, climbing the steps slowly.

"Just don't look over the side." Zinkata responded as they reached the top of the stairs. Vivli responded to this by trying to look over the side. She was, however, too short. She attempted to go on her tip toes, but found it difficult in high heels and almost fell over.

"Trust me, you don't want to see." Bootus told her, glancing down. "We're pretty high."

"Aw, is the big galka scared of heights?" Vivli taunted. Bootus responded by giving Vivli a gentle shove. This was enough to knock her over. "Stoppit! You'll get my dress dirty!" She yelled, getting back up.

"What I wouldn't give for a spell of silence." Voldos grumbled to himself.

"Not my fault you wore white." Bootus countered to the tiny mithra.

"Or a teleport spell." Voldos added.

"Windurst only sent word four were coming." The guard at the entrance told them. "I cannot permit a fifth."

"Sorry, Garland, looks like you have to wait outside." Zinkata told the dark knight. "We'll be back in a minute." Garland paused. It seemed he wasn't happy.

"Don't worry about it old chum, I'll wait." Even if he wouldn't admit it.

The Grand Duke stood before the party. They all bowed respectfully. They were incredibly nervous.

"Windurst sends word one of you is the destined Light Warrior who is to save our world, correct?" Introductions were no concern of his.

"Urm, yes." Zinkata spoke for the party, nervously fumbling over his words.

"And who might this warrior be?" The Duke inquired.

"Urr, me." Vivli said nervously.

"I don't want jokes. Don't waste my time!" Snapped the Duke. He clearly took this matter very seriously.

"It, erm, really is me, your highness." Vivli whinced. She had no idea if she had used the right mode of address.

"You? I find that highly suspect." The Duke was about to say something, but didn't get the chance. The back wall of the room exploded.

A gigantic black dragon soared down, blasting a green fireball into the smoke filled room. Voldos was blasted back. Vivli quickly cast protect on the Grand Duke to protect him. Guards rushed into the room, unleashing arrows on the beast.

"Run Vivli!" Zinkata commanded. Vivli turned to run away, but her dress snagged on a piece of the rubble. She desperately tried to pull it free, but it was caught. The dragon soared downwards, grabbing Vivli in its mighty talons, and flew away, leaving only a loud scream from the helpless mithra.

"What the devil is happening?" Garland asked as he ran into the smoking room.

"Care to explain that?" Snapped the Grand Duke.

"That was one of Uggalepih's dragons!" Zinkata cried back. "It's after her. She's the Light Warrior. The only one that can defeat Ugglaepih."

Vivl screamed again, finding herself soaring far above the ground. _Bootus was right, I didn't want to look down. _She squirmed, trying to move, and the talons just tightned on her. _Where am I going? _She thought, struggling to escape. It was futile. The ground began to race towards her. The dragon was descending.

"HELP!" She screamed, despite the fact nobody was around to hear it.

There was a horrific crash. The dragon had let go of her. She slammed and rolled along the ground. It circled, unleashing a green fireball. She was in pain, but managed to scramble to her feet and dodge the explosion. She bolted for a nearby cave, as fast as she could move. The dragon fired another blast, and she ran inside just as the entrance collapsed in an explosion of green fire. She was plunged into darkness, just as she got that dreadful sense she was not alone.


	15. XV

**PART XV**

"_You fight well, Bootus, but I get the impression you fight for the wrong reason."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_You fight for yourself. Not for others."_

"_That's not true. I-"_

"_You fight because you enjoy it. Then you use the suffering of the others as an excuse to engage in your violence."_

"_If I didn't enjoy violence I would have become some kind of whimpy White Mage or something."_

"_You chose the path of the monk because of it, but never forget, it is your sworn duty to help others. Never let them suffer."_

"_Yes, sensei. I'll remember."_

Bootus looked casually around the devastation. Garland had put his spiked helmet back on his head.

"Well, old chaps, this is goodbye. I have to go and save her." He turned away.

"What do you mean 'I'?" Zinkata asked quickly. "We're all going."

"Sorry, old friend, but it's too risky." Garland explained. "Judging by where that dragon landed, she's in dangerous territory. Only I could get to her alive."

"We will _not_ let you go alone." Bootus said surprisingly.

"Very well. We'll head to the armoury, the guards are sure to let us use their equipment, then head out."

Bootus, Zinkata and Voldos walked into the large armoury, through the huge iron door. Garland waited outside. He already had all the equipment he needed. There was a crash. The door was sealed.

"GARLAND!" Exclaimed Zinkata, running to the door.

"Sorry, friends, but it's just too risky." He paused. "I have to go alone. I can't let you risk yourselves. Goodbye." He walked away.  
"Garland! No!" Zinkata yelled, pounding the door.

Vivli awoke, her entire body shaking. _I spend more time knocked out than normal sleeping these days _she thought to herself. She tried to move, and couldn't. She was stuck to something. A gigantic web of sticky white strands. Her eyes went wide in fear as it dawned on her. A spider's web.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" She bellowed, kicking and struggling like crazy, unable to move. She began to remember the darkness, a noise had rendered her unconscious. A bite. Poison. It would explain why she felt so weak. "PLEASE! HELP!" Fairly predictably, Vivli was scared of spiders. Arachnaphobia was a lot less common in Vana'diel, and those who were scared of spiders were scared of those of the giant variety. Not Vivli. Even the smallest spider creeped her out. So being stuck to a gigantic web sent her into a crazed fit of screaming and yelling. This, of course, attracted the spider.

It was huge, as predicted. About three times the height of Vivli, and so fat its gigantic slimy black legs seemed to struggle to support its bulk. Eight glistening eyes reflected out of the darkness as it snapped its gigantic mouth. Green poison splattered everywhere. It came close to Vivli, almost placing her in its mouth. The entire web vibrated with her shaking. It passed by her, as if she wasn't there. It scuttled off down into the darkness. Vivli burst into tears.

"I'm not ramming it again!" Snapped Bootus, rubbing his bruised shoulder.

"We can't just stay here!" Zinkata countered.

"And why not?" Asked the galka. "Garland can take care of Vivli."

"It's the principle! Come on!" Zinkata pushed the galka. Bootus charged and smashed into the door once more.

The little mithra was tugging desperately at the sticky ropes in a fit. She couldn't move. She couldn't get help. All she could do was cry, and that wasn't very productive.

"What's this?" A voice came. "Hello?"

"Hello?" Screamed Vivli, overjoyed. "Help! Help me! Please!" A roughly shaven figure with scruffy hair poked his head out from the cave. He crept in slowly. He had muddy brown clothes, and they didn't look like they'd been washed for months.

"Is it gone?" He asked.

"Just cut me down! Please!" She cried, struggling. He drew an old battered sword from his belt and did so. Then he bent down to scoop up the goo around the bottom of the web. "What are you doing? We have to get out of here!"  
"Shh. I need this stuff. It's a vital healing component. Hold on." She waited nervously, jumping at every little sound.

"Come on!" She snapped, unable to control her fear any longer.

"Okay, it'll be back soon. Follow me." The two shot off down a darkened path.

"We'll never catch him!" Bootus pointed out, rubbing his battered shoulder as they ran through the streets of Jeuno.

"Not on foot!" Zinkata pointed out. "To the chocobo stables!"

"We don't have licences." Voldos reminded him.

"I've got my licence right here." Zinkata stroked his sword handle. Voldos shot him a stare. "What? This is no time to be diplomatic!"

"So who are you?" Vivli was, as usual, struggling to keep up.

"My name's Ronald. I collect this goo for healing potions." He explained as they walked.

"I'm never taking another healing potion again." Vivli stated.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did a girl like you end up out here? Don't you city types avoid the deep wilderness." _City types? _Vivli certainly preferred cities, but she never thought of herself as the type who would be confined to one. She then remembered how she was dressed.

"It's a bit of a long story." She began to pick the sticky spider web off of her dress, which, with the current conversation, just made her look vain. The addition of her getting her hands stuck together by the web just helped the impression that she was an inexperienced city girl lost in the wilderness. "Dammit." She muttered under her breath.

"This is fun!" Zinkata announced as the chocobos tore across the plains.

"Nice of the owner to be so co-operative." Voldos laughed.

"I don't think my chocobo is doing so well." Boouts groaned. The chocobo was straining under the massive bulk of the galka. Voldos laughed again.

"See, if you had been born an elf, you wouldn't have this problem." He remarked.

"Yeah, but at least this way I don't have ridiculous ears." Bootus countered.

"I do not have ridiculous ears!" Voldos snapped.

"Even with Vivli gone, we still bicker." Sighed Zinkata.

"I think it's just Bootus." Voldos commented.

"Are we near the entrance yet?" Vivli's voice was shaking.

"Ha. A girl like you isn't scared of the dark is she?" Ronald laughed.

"Just a bit." She answered, embarrassed. Ronald laughed.

"Don't worry. The exit is just up ahead." The goo farmer explained.

"And the spider?" She nervously asked.

"It won't come this close to the light." He explained. She saw light pouring into the tunnel, and a bright white exit. She began to run towards it, overly happy to escape. Sadly, this led to her tripping over her dress.

"Ow." She whimpered, looking up. A siloette was stood in the light. Her eyes went wide. _It can't be! _It looked like….

"We're nearing the canyon where the dragon landed." Zinkata told the others.

"I see no dead mithra, means she escaped." Bootus observed. "That was lucky." Everybody stared at him. "Ur, I mean, damn."

"Yeah, whatever." Sighed Voldos. "Where did she go then?"

"She must have found somewhere to hide." Zinkata stated. Bootus sarcastically clapped his hands. "But I don't see any caves around here." Zinkata continued, ignoring the galka.

"What about there?" Voldos pointed to a blackened pile of rocks. "Looks like a cave in."

"You think she's inside?" Zinkata asked.

"Vivli? In a dark cave? All alone?" Bootus burst out with laughter at the thought.

"If she wasn't crushed." This thought from Voldos silenced him. "We had better find another way in and investigate."

….a demon. She backed away in disbelief, falling over again. The shadowy figure stepped forwards, and as he did it was revealed to be Garland. She breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"You scared me to death!" She cried, standing up slowly.

"You alright?" Garland asked quickly.  
"Thanks to Ronald here. He saved me." She answered, pointing to the strange man.

"Is he the only one that found you?" It was a strange question from Garland.

"Well, yes." She replied.

"Excellent." Garland threw his sword, slicing through Ronald, killing him. Vivli screamed.

"Did you hear that?" Zinkata exclaimed.

"Sounded like Vivli!" Voldos gave in response.

"We need to find a way in! Quickly!" Zinkata snapped.

"Garland?" Vivli staggered away. "What are you doing?"

"Always obey your instincts." Came the response, now dramatically deepened into a growling voice. Huge demonic wings were beginning to form from his back.

"You-You're-" Vivli could barely get the words out. "Uggalepih!"

"Ha. It's pathetic you call be by that name." Garland had now gigantic demonic wings, and the horns on his helmet had become real, sticking violently from his head. His eyes glowed a dull purple.

"What do you mean?" She stumbled back.

"Gods. Ha. They don't exist." Garland flew towards her. "Their a stubborn belief of you puny mortals trying desperately to justify your existence. There are no gods. There is no plan. Your world, your races, their all just a bizarre coincidence."

"What? But you're Uggalepih. The god!" She cried.

"God. A god is what they called me. To justify my own power. A spirit of my strength could not be understood." Garland laughed, sneering.

"So, who are you?" Vivli whimpered.

"Tell me, young Vivli, you were a student of magic. Do you know what Uggalepih means in the ancient tongue?"

"I'm not sure." She managed to splutter.

"Think." Garland ordered. Her eyes went wide in blind terror. She suddenly realised.

"Chaos!" She gasped.

Her mind lit up. She could hear the voices again. But this time, she could see. A memory lodged deep in her subconscious.

"Hand her over, Garland!" Vivli found herself crying, stepping towards an armoured figure. He was unmistakable.

"Nobody touches my Princess!" Spat Garland back.

"Your Princess? She belongs to no-one. Now, hand her over, or in the name of the Light Warriors we will strike you down." The fighter stepped forwards to be side by side with Vivli.

"Light Warriors?" Garland replied with a sneer.

"We bear the four orbs of Light. We will use their power if we must. Stand down." The monk joined them also.

"You impertinent fools!" Laughed Garland.

"Surrender!" The White Mage said cautiously, stepping forwards as well.

"I, Garland, will knock you all down!" Cried the evil dark knight.

"That's impossible!" Gasped Vivli. Her memory was from a million years ago. "You were destroyed!"

"Ha. The Demon Lord Chaos will not die so easily." Chaos spat. "My body was crushed but my spirit endured. So you pathetically named me a god. You worshiped that which you hated. There are _no _gods!"

"There must be. There are!" Vivli shouted back.

"Where are they then, little girl?" Chaos taunted. "Why aren't they protecting you?"

"Why are you doing this?" Vivli screamed. "Why not just kill me? Why crush my faith?"

"You pathetic whelp!" Chaos slammed a mighty fist into the ground, causing huge vibrations and knocking Vivli off her feet. "I have endured being a spirit for a million years. Can your puny brain even process that? A million years. You've lived for under twenty. Fifty, maybe you could grasp. A hundred, I doubt it. How much has Vana'diel changed in the last thousand years?" Chaos wasn't going to let her answer. "So in ten thousand? In a million? A million years is beyond your understanding. You just can't process it. And for that time, I have suffered. I have waited. I have plotted. I have awaited my vengance. Do you think I'm really going to throw it away and kill you instantly?" Chaos flew towards her, still a twisted visage of Garland. "Oh no, young girl, I will make you scream and beg for death before my form before I end your life." Vivli stumbled away in desperate fear.

"Garland!" Zinkata snapped. Chaos span around, seeing the three heroes, Zinkata stood central, Bootus and Voldos flanking him on either side. Zinkata held a sword, Voldos had drawn his bow, and Bootus had claws gripped in his hands.

"RUN!" Vivli screamed, yelling to them. Chaos was still between them. "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" She was sobbing. "HE'S CHAOS! HE'LL DESTROY YOU!" Vivli knew if they left, she'd die, but wanted to do something heroic at least once in her soon to be ended life.

"We didn't come all this way to leave you!" Zinkata shouted.

"He's too powerful!" She yelled. "He'll kill you all!" Tears streamed down her face.

"Even if we cannot win, we'll fight!" Zinkata cried. "Right, guys?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way!" Voldos fired an arrow. It exploded into dust before it reached Chaos.

"This is no fight." Sneered Chaos. Thunder rocketed down, hitting all three of them. They all collapsed in pain.

"Then accept a challenge!" A voice yelled.

He was a beaten man. One arm, the other ripped off. His face was badly scarred, multiple fresh wounds. His armour was cracked and broken. His leg had been bleeding heavily. He barely looked alive.

"You?" Chaos yelled.

"Me." Fiorel replied. "I hope you're more capable than your lackey." He taunted.

"Fiorel!" Vivli ran to hug him, but Fiorel pushed her back.

"Vivli. Get out of here." He told her.

"Not again!" She wept. "I'm not leaving you again."

"You have to. This fight we cannot win." He gestured to Chaos. "He cannot be killed. Find the crystal shards. Discover the power of the Light Warriors. Save the world."

"Fiorel! No!" She sobbed on her knees.

The three watching heroes bolted past Chaos and grabbed Vivli.

"Come on!" Snapped Bootus. "You heard him! We have to go!"

"FIOREL!" She yelled.

"Remember, your big brother loves you." He said with a smile.

"And your little sister loves you." She sobbed, just before breaking into a run. Fiorel turned back to Chaos.

"Aw, how touching. Can I kill you now?" Chaos inquired.

"Give it your best shot." Fiorel told him.

Fiorel ran at Chaos. Chaos summoned a blackened blade, formed from shadow magic. He swung it, knocking Fiorel into a wall. His foot burst into a huge demonic claw, and he picked up the beaten paladin with it, slamming him into the ceiling, and then the floor. He stumbled up, only to have Chaos's sword cut through him. Fiorel flew to the ground, bleeding. He thrust his sword forwards, but Chaos just stamped on it, smashing it apart. The Demon Lord lifted him up in a newly formed claw.

"Why do you fight, _boy_?" Spat the demon. "You cannot win."

"Incorrect." Laughed Fiorel. "I already have."

"What?" Chaos sneered.

"Vivli has escaped." He spluttered. "She'll find the crystal shards. They'll defeat you and save the world. You'll see." Chaos let out a roar and hurled Fiorel into the ground with all his might.

The paladin was no more.

The entire cave rumbled and began to collapse.

"Oh frack!" Exclaimed Voldos.

"Run!" Zinkata cried. The four bolted down the dark passageways as the force of Chaos's final attack on Fiorel causing the ceiling to collapse. Vivli screamed as a rock fell down by her. Zinkata grabbed her, pulling her away as the entire ceiling collapsed. It stopped just before it crushed them.

"That was close." Panted Bootus.

"Too close. Look." Voldos drew their attention to the fact both sides of them had caved in. "We're trapped."


	16. XVI

**PART XVI**

"_Watch out! Bats!"_

"_Oh, come on. Just lie low."_

"_If your parents find out we're-"_

"_They'll never find out. When do they ever come to this cave?"_

"_Might get sent here hunting."_

"_Yeah right. We're perfectly safe!"_

"_By the end of this, you'll know this cave like the back of your hand."_

"_That's the plan. I love exploring caves."_

Voldos had lost this love quite some time ago. When he was a child, he'd run around the caves just outside San D'Oria all the time, hiding from the beasts and having fun with his best friend. When they were teenagers, and learning the way of the warrior, the cave became a training area. After that, it lost all appeal.

Now he was trapped in one, and he knew all to well air would run out very soon. Or Chaos would find and destroy them.

"Well, what do we do now?" The elf sighed.

"Wait to die." Muttered Bootus.

"Check the rocks. See if there's a way out." Zinkata ordered, slightly more willing to try and find a solution. Voldos ran to the other side.

"No way back." A quick assesment informed the ex-thief.

"There's a tiny crack here, leading into darkness. Means we get air." Zinkata shouted back.

"Oh, good." Remarked Bootus. "At least we can breath until Chaos kills us." Vivli was huddled against the wall, petrified in the dark.

"Chaos won't come down here, will he?" She asked in a mix of shock and fear. She knew the answer, but couldn't bring herself to say it.

"This hole is our only way out." Zinkata ignored her, knowing it was better not to dwell on it. "But it's far too small for us." One by one, the adventurers turned to Vivli. She could just make it out in the dim light.

"What?" She said, seconds before realisation dawned on her.

"No." She stated with folded arms staring at the tiny hole.

"Vivli, this is no time to be childish." Voldos warned.

"It's about the size of my hand!" She protested, pointing to the small gap in the pile of rocks.

"You can squeeze through there easily." Zinkata explained.

"And then what?" She asked. "Run away and leave you to die? What am I going to do on the other side?"

"Find help?" Voldos suggested.

"But I'm in a dress!" Vivli changed her tune. "I climb through there, and all of you guys'll look straight up it."

"Vivli, I think we have bigger concerns than that." Zinkata grumbled. Vivli turned to the dark hole, staring into the blackness beyond.

"See, told ya you'd fit." Zinkata laughed as Vivli struggled through the tiny hole.

"Easy for you to say." She grunted, wriggling up to her waist. Her head emerged in the inky blackness on the other side of the rocks. She shivered. She was unable to see anything. She tried to squirm forwards further, but couldn't move.

"I'm stuck!" She yelled back, trying to wriggle out of the hole backwards to no avail. There was no response, but she did hear Bootus laughing. She stopped, with an unamused expression on her face (not that anybody could see it).

She kicked and squirmed a little more before hearing a deep roar from the darkness. She froze in terror. Out of the darkness, she spotted eight slimy eyes. She suddenly remembered the spider.

"HELP!" She screamed. "PULL ME OUT! NOW!" She kicked furiously as she struggled to move. She felt them grip her feet and pull just as the spider lunged for her.

Zinkata fell back as the tiny mithra landed on top of him. He watched as she sprang to her feet in panic.

"What is it?" Zinkata asked. Vivli didn't have to answer. A gigantic black spider's leg stuck through the hole.

"S-s-s-s-spider." She spluttered. The rocks crumbled. The leg suddenly disappeared. The warriors drew their weapons. The evil arachnid rammed the rocks, and the roof began to crumble.

"Great. On one side, we have Chaos, the Lord of the Demons. On the other side, we have a giant spider. If we stay here, they crush us under rocks." Voldos paused. "How do these things happen?"

"I'd like to take our final moments in this lifetime to point out this is Vivli's fault."Bootus stated. The wall was rammed again. Vivli didn't respond to this. She had sunk down against the stone wall, and curled her knees up to her chest. Her combined fear of the dark and spiders had pretty much overloaded her thinking.

"We need a plan! Quickly!" Zinkata yelled.

"Thanks for that, Zin, really helpful." Bootus grumbled as he dodged a falling rock.

"We might get lucky, perhaps we can fight past the spider." Voldos suggested.

"If we're not crushed first!" Zinkata yelled back.

_I'm a Light Warrior. Vivli's thoughts were almost mocking her. I can't be. I'm pathetic. I'm scared. I'm always scared. How can I be a Light Warrior? Why do I have these memories of somebody so very different? Suddenly, her eyes opened. She was still scared. She was shaking furiously, yet struggled to her feet. She knew as a Light Warrior, she'd been braver. She wanted to help. And she had just had an idea._

"Get back!" She yelled. The others just looked at her. "Move! I'm going to cast a spell!" They did so.

"What are you casting?" Zinkata asked.

"Dia. Get ready to run." She unleashed her spell on the spider. Although dia, a spell of white magic that drained the creatures health slowly, wasn't that painful, the bright light was enough to shock its eyes and send it reeling back. "NOW! DIVE THROUGH THE HOLE!" The four bolted, jumping through the widened hole the spider had made.

"Right! Let's take it down!" Zinkata yelled.

"I've done my bit. Can I go back to being scared?" Vivli requested as the light faded and she was plunged into darkness.

"Stop moaning!" Bootus snapped. "Hey, ugly!" He cried to the spider. "Let's see what you're made of!"

The gigantic spider scuttled towards them. Vivli shook as it approached, desperate to hold her ground with the others, despite every part of her body was telling her to run.

"Okay. There's nothing to be afraid of." She started saying out loud. "It's just a bug." The spider roared. "A bug with very large teeth. And legs. And eyes." The spider lunged at Zinkata. The warrior dived aside, cutting into its leg. It recoiled. The heroes watched it, afraid to attack. Vivli plucked up enough courage to cast a spell. A blue shield shimmered in front of each of the heroes, designed to stop physical damage. The protect spell Bootus had given her.

This attracted the giant monster's attention, and it thundered towards her. She dropped down into a ball with a screech. Luckily for her, Zinkata leapt between the two, thrusting his sword upwards into the spider's jaw. The spider let out a roar, and knocked the human warrior aside with its gigantic leg. Zinkata crashed down painfully, letting out a groan. Voldos lifted his own blade and charged the beast. It snapped at him with its legs. He dodged them skilfully, but was completely unable to get an attack in. Bootus charged, and was flung aside like a rag doll.

"Li! Heal them!" Ordered Voldos as he attempted to hold off the beast. Vivli rose to her feet, but attracted the beast's attention. It just let out a squirt from its rear of web. It impacted with Vivli's feet, sticking her firmly to the ground.

"I can't move!" She screamed, struggling.

"Just cast, dammit!" Voldos yelled as the spider spat poison goop at him. Vivli obeyed, and a soft white light engulfed Zinkata. He rose back to his feet. Vivli was struggling to cast on Bootus, but the spider was in the way, and she couldn't get a clear view of him to focus the spell.

Bootus got up anyway. He wasn't going to let some gigantic spider throw him around. He ran at it, and slashed its back leg. With this missing, the spider scuttled back a little. The gigantic black apendage dropped down, spewing blackened blood everywhere. The charging galka ran under the monster, tearing up its under side with his claw.

The galka soon emerged at the front of the beast with the other heroes. Vivli quickly went about curing him while Voldos and Zinkata held off the snapping jaw of the spider. Voldos took a few steps back.

"Cover me!" He yelled to Zinkata. Zinkata did so, fighting back the beast, blocking thrusts from its mighty legs with his own sword. Voldos fired an arrow, and hit the monster square in the eyes. Zinkata took this as a sign to drive his sword upwards into the beast's mouth. It staggered back, and with a slurp, swallowed Zinkata's sword.

"I didn't see that coming." A surprised Zinkata muttered.

"What do we do now?" Voldos yelled.

"Run?" Bootus suggested.

"Run? You can't run! I'm stuck!" Vivli cried, pulling at her feet in a blind panic. "Don't leave me! Please! Don't!" Bootus laughed aloud.

"I'm a galka. I never run. But your reaction was priceless." He yelled to her.

"Aren't we only in this situation because we were running away?" Voldos pointed out.

"Quiet you." Bootus said quickly.

"Use this!" Voldos suggested, throwing Zinkata his sword. "I'll hold it down with arrows!" More shots flew in at the spider, driving it back further.

"Bootus! Give me a boost!" Zinkata cried. The galka did so, picking up Zinkata and throwing him into the air. The warrior landed on the slimy hide of the spider.

Zinkata slipped a little, steadying himself. He drove Voldos's sword deep into the spider's head, and it lurched forwards, trying to throw him off. He twisted the blade and the spider collapsed. Zinkata was thrown off.

He looked up from the ground. The spider had stopped just in front of Vivli. It seemed dead.

"AH! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" Vivli struggled furiously, staring at the lifeless face of the spider. She was expecting it to snap back into life at any moment. Bootus wondered over with a laugh.

"I don't think it's going to be doing anything." He said with sarcastic sympathy. Vivli was still worried.

"Just free me!" She quickly snapped. "This is the third time I've been stuck in front of a giant spider today, and it's not funny anymore!"

"Once again, I respectfully disagree." Voldos stated with an irritating smirk.

"Shut up!" She paused. "Get me out of here!"  
"I'm not doing anything with that attitude." The galka stubbornly said.

"Please?" She begged.

"I don't know. You need to make up for your previous rudeness now." Bootus folded his arms.

"Just pull her out and let's get out of here!" Zinkata snapped. "Chaos won't be far behind after that battle." Bootus obeyed unhappily, picking up the little mithra by her shoulders, and then dropping her back down roughly.

"Let's move!" He cried, half dragging Vivli with him.

They bolted out of the caves after much running, finding themselves back in a rocky canyon. Vivli doubled over, panting from exhaustion.

"Come on! We can't stop!" Bootus snapped.

"Where to?" She panted in response. "There's nowhere we can go."

"I have a suggestion." Voldos said. Everybody looked at him. "Let's go up."

All four adventurers craned their necks upwards, seeing a gigantic hovering airship, painted in the colours of the Grand Duchy of Jeuno. There was a rumble from within the cave.

"It had better hurry up!" Zinkata yelled, over the increasing sound of the beating rotor blades that kept the airship going. Somebody on board threw a rope ladder over the side. The party were quick to scramble up it, literally falling onto the deck.

"Ah, it would appear I arrived in time." The Grand Duke told them, stood over the pile of heroes laid out on the deck. They sprang to their feet in shock.

"Urm, yes, sir. Highness. Sir, highness, sir." Voldos didn't have a clue how to speak to him.

"Sir, with all due respect, we need to move away from here as soon as possible." Zinkata advised. The Grand Duke nodded.

"Plot a course for Jeuno!" He ordered.

"Yes sir!" Replied the man at the wheel.

Chaos toyed with the idea of blasting the airship out of the air. He could easily blow it to smithereens with his magic, killing all on board. He shook his head. No. He knew where he would confront them. And it would make his final victory so much sweeter.

"I considered the evidence, and decided you were telling the truth." The Grand Duke told them as the airship cruised through the air. "After you went missing I headed directly to the library to investigate the old legend. When I discovered the word 'Garland' I knew something was wrong."

"Thank you, sir." Zinkata said with a bow. "You saved our lives."

"And I'm counting on you to save ours." He paused. "All of ours."

"No pressure then." Bootus sighed.

"I have something that can help." The Duke told them. "The crystal shard that was entrusted to Jeuno."

"Jeuno was entrusted with a crystal shard?" Vivli asked, subconsciously fiddling with the crystal shard she had hanging around her neck.

"Yes. I was under the impression it was the only one that had been found." The Duke said with a very slight tone of surprise. Vivli tucked her shard back under her dress where it had been hidden.

"It belonged to the monastery." She said nervously. Surprising the Grand Duke wasn't the sort of thing Vivli felt comfortable doing.

"I will pass it to you as soon as we arrive in Jeuno." The four heroes responded with a bow to show their appreciation.

Zinkata fiddled with the crystal shard he now wore around his neck. Some time had passed, and they were back in Jeuno. He was slumped in a tavern on his own. Once the high from the adventure had worn off, Zinkata had slumped into a bit of a depression. He had, of course, been betrayed again. The party had, as a group, decided to give the second crystal shard to him. The others had disappeared now. Vivli was in the library, looking for clues to the location of the other shards, and Bootus and Voldos were heading to the auction house to see if they could get any new equipment for cheap. And so, Zinkata sat alone, slumped at a table, swirling his drink around miserably.

The door opened, and he looked up slowly. Vivli walked in, looking almost cautious. She was now comfortably back in her robe, and peered around the dingy tavern, looking for the ex-thief. She soon spotted him and hurried to him.

"Hi." She said, worried by Zinkata's scowl. "I, urm, think I found a hint." She didn't want to upset the already irritated looking warrior.

"Who cares?" Came a surprise response.

"Well, it is about the fate of the world." She nervously gulped.

"You say that. What's the point in saving the world?" He paused. "Who do we know who won't just betray us?"

"I know how you feel." Vivli said quietly. "But not everybody's traitorous. I mean, Fiorel wasn't."

"Yeah, and he's dead. Or had you forgotten?" Zinkata snapped. Vivli was visibly taken back. She fought back tears at the very thought she'd forget Fiorel.

"Urm, I'll go." The tiny mithra whimpered, before turning about to leave.

"Wait." Zinkata cried as she walked to leave. "Wait. I'm sorry!" He cried, and she stopped just before the door. "That wasn't a fair thing to say." Vivli paused for a moment. She didn't turn around. Tears were running down her face and she didn't want Zinkata to know. Not while he was feeling down.

"You're right." She told him. "Fiorel was the one man who stood by our side. And he's dead." She let out a sob that was a little more audible than she would have liked. "We seem to have a choice, have friends that betray us, or have friends that die." Of course, a moment pondering this made Vivli realise this wasn't the best thing to say. "Hey, why do we need friends? We've got each other, right?" It was an attempt to cheer herself up as much as Zinkata.

"A bickering galka, a moronic elf and a cowardly mithra?" Zinkata snapped. Vivli looked to the floor with a whimper. "Sorry." He sighed. "I didn't mean to-"

"To what?" She sobbed. "To upset me? To insult me? Or to tell the truth?"

"It's not the truth. I just-" Zinkata tried to apologise, but couldn't finish. Vivli had slumped down on a chair, and was crying her eyes out. "Hey, look," Zinkata felt the stereotypical male protective urge, and instantly went about comforting her, "I guess we're all a bit stressed. I'll forget this conversation ever happened if you do." Vivli smiled.

"So, you want to hear my idea?" She asked, wiping away a tear.


	17. XVII

**PART XVII**

"_Now Zinkata, let's settle this, one on one, as it should have been."_

"_We were friends. You threw that down the drain and sold yourself out! I wouldn't trade this battle for the world."_

"_Oh, please, you were only my ally because I needed you to steal the crown of Uggalepih, it was all planned. He came to me in a dream, you see, when I was a young boy. The rest was careful planning. I had known for decades that only you could pull it off. It was your destiny. Your destiny. Now Uggalepih is resurrected and the world is his!"_

"_Like hell!"_

"_You cannot defeat me. Surrender. Maybe I wont kill you." _

That battle had only occurred a few days ago. It felt like a lifetime. The fact that Zinkata had ever trusted that man was sickening. He glanced at Vivli, who was sat opposite, digging through a bag for some pieces of paper she found she had said could help their search. She looked so small and weak, yet had easily crushed Signot. If he let the truth be known, he was quite angry at her for that. She had killed the one enemy he would have done anything to have a final shot at. Of course, he knew in a quest as vital as theirs, this was petty and never brought it up.

"Found it!" Vivli beamed, pulling out a map.

"It's a map of Vana'diel Li. I have one too." Zinkata replied blankly, pulling himself out of his thoughts.

"But look at this!" She pulled out a much more unfamiliar map.

"Where the hell is that?" Zinkata asked, taking a closer look.

"It's an old map of Gaia." She replied, smiling at her own achievement. Most of the heated emotions from the conversation beforehand had faded from her body.

"Perhaps you had better get the others before explaining this." Zinkata suggested.

The four were now gathered around a small table in the tavern. This looked highly comical, as you might imagine, with Bootus squeezed awkwardly into a small chair, Voldos slumped in another and Zinkata looking embarrassed. And of course, all three were looking down on Vivli, who was attempting to explain something to them. The size difference alone made other bar patrons snigger. And made Vivli nervous as she stared at the faces looking down on her.

"Right, so this is a map of Gaia, right?" Vivli pointed to it. "And this is Vana'diel." She pointed to that.

"By the gods! You're a genius!" Exclaimed Bootus.

"Be quiet!" Vivli snapped. "Right, if we overlay them, we can find the geographical positions of Gaia in our own world today." The others nodded. "And according to a book I found, the Light Warriors visited the land of the elves after their quest."

"Elvaans." Voldos corrected. "We're not called elves. We don't hand out presents and dance around like little pixies."

"Firstly, that's elfs. Secondly, they _were _called elves. Elvaans are an evolutionary result. For starters, your necks are gigantic now." Everybody else at the table sniggered. Voldos subconsciously reached for his neck.

"It's not." He whimpered.

"Anyway, according to the map, the old land of Elfland-"

"Creative name." Bootus interjected.

"Shut up!" Vivli cried. "As I was saying, the old land of Elfland was built where Bastok is now."

"So we go to Bastok and ask for rumours about the crystal positions?" Zinkata guessed.

"No, we go to Windurst." Vivli beamed a smile.

"Did Chaos drop you on your head or something?" The galka inquired.

"Are short memory spans a symptom of the thin air you must get all the way up there?" Vivli countered. Voldos sniggered.

"Oh come on, that wasn't funny! _I _was funny!" Bootus protested.

"Need I remind you the President of Bastok sent us on a mission. A mission that if we do not complete, he'll have our heads instead of offering us help." Vivli was enjoying being in a position of power, even if she was a little intimidated by the collected adventurers staring down on her.

"So, what do we do?" Voldos asked.

"Simple. We go to Windurst, talk to the High Priestess. She'll get the higher authorities to say we offered aid by doing what we're doing anyway. And she can fill us in on any information the President may want to hear." The others paused.

"Sounds easy." Zinkata said with a nod.

"Let's get to the chocobo stables then." Voldos muttered.

"We have licences?" Vivli inquired.

"The Grand Duke filled them out for us." Zinkata passed her a slip of paper.

"Race you there!" Bootus bolted out of the tavern before the others could say anything. Voldos and Zinkata glanced at each other before running after him.

"And they say I'm childish." Vivli said to nobody, getting up and walking. She knew she didn't stand a chance of catching them up anyway.

"What took you so long?" Was Bootus's friendly greeting to the mithra. "You missed my victory!"

"Don't lie!" Zinkata snapped. "I beat you by a good second!"

"Oh please, we said to the chocobo _stables_, not to the chocobo!" Vivli laughed as Bootus talked. This was the kind of light hearted relief they were all in need of.

"Shall we get going?" Voldos was slightly embarrassed by their behaviour, especially in front of the female elvaan who seemed to be running the stable. They all walked up to the young woman, paid their gil and went about picking their chocobos.

Voldos and Zinkata skilfully jumped on. Bootus climbed on, and the chocobo struggled under his massive weight. Vivli tried to climb up, found herself too short, and fell.

"Maybe you'd take this one, ma'am." The elvaan woman said politely, pointing to a much smaller chocobo. Vivli climbed onto it much easier.

"Thanks." She said sheepishly, a little embarrassed.

"Ha, you even have to have a midget chocobo!" Bootus exclaimed.

"I'm not _that _short!" Vivli cried as the chocobo lurched forwards uneasily.

"Yes you are!" Came a reply in unison.

"There are lots of mithra my height!" She protested as they exited the stables and rode into the ruins outside of Jeuno.

"And they're all short as well!" Bootus pointed out. "Not to mention you're damn near anorexic."

"What?" Vivli exclaimed.

"You are." Bootus stated. "Look at this." He held out his massive arm (which made Vivli jealous of just how well he could ride a chocobo one handed). "You're about the width of my arm."

"Well, if you weren't so fat, that wouldn't be a problem." She countered.

"It's all muscle!" Bootus yelled.

"Ha. At least I can claim I'm all muscle and it be accurate." Vivli taunted.

"You're not though. You're just fur and bones." Zinkata butted in.

"Where did that come from? Why does everybody consider mithra furry? We have furry ears. We have furry tails. Other than that, we're just like everybody else." Vivli protested.

"Nice change of subject, bone sack." Bootus said with a laugh.

"Hey, that was mean!" Vivli cried.

"That _was _the idea." Bootus laughed again. Vivli grumbled.

Sadly this sort of conversation continued all the way to Windurst with Vivli and Bootus mocking each other continuously. Zinkata would occasionally butt in, but Voldos remained silent. He didn't want to get involved. He thought up a couple of witty comments, but through great restraint, kept them to himself.

The city of Windurst fell into view on the horizon, much to the relief of the elvaan.

"I'm not saying white magic is useless. I'm saying White Mages are!" Cried the galka. Their arguments had moved on somewhat.

"What? How can you say that? We're the staple force for any party!" Vivli yelled equally loudly.

"Doing what? You're too weak to defend yourselves, so you just leech off us." Bootus pointed out.

"We do not 'leech'. And not all White Mages are weak!" Vivli sounded like she was genuinely offended for once. That was the tone she was going for. She hoped it would make the galka shut up.

"Sorry, it's difficult to remember that when you're the only White Mage I know." Bootus laughed. Vivli let out an angry grumble.

"Kweh!" Cried the chocobo, sounding as fed up as Voldos felt.

"You obtained another shard?" The High Priestess seemed surprised.

"It was in the hands of Jeuno. It wasn't easy to get." Zinkata explained.

"High Priestess," Vivli began, "I need to know. Did you know Uggalepih was Chaos?"

"We were aware." The Priestess replied.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Vivli cried.

"Would it have mattered? It is but a name." Vivli went to reply, but a hand on her shoulder from Voldos made her reconsider.

"We need Windurst to confirm we offered aid so we can continue the search for the crystal shards in Bastok." Zinkata explained.

"Shouldn't be hard to get. The fate of the world rests on this after all." She paused. "It is typical of the President of Bastok to insist you complete your missions, isn't it?" Bootus stirred awkwardly, he didn't like hearing bad words against his home nation.

"Thank you." Zinkata said quickly, before the galka could protest. "As soon as we have confirmation we'll be on our way."

"Not quite so fast. I have a request from the Star Sybil. She wants to see Vivli." Vivli jumped as she heard this. The Star Sybil was a tarutaru that the people of Windurst believed was a resurrected Goddess. Seeing her was the same as seeing the Grand Duke, except this was the ruler of Vivli's home.

"I can't meet the Star Sybil!" Vivli cried. "I'm just a mage. I don't-"

"She requested it. I'd advise you accept." The Priestess told Vivli. Vivli sighed. She didn't really have a choice.

The tiny mithra stood alone in Heaven's Tower, the gigantic tree in which the Star Sybil resided. She walked nervously through the gigantic doors, seeing the small tarutaru sat in a large throne.

"Ah. Miss Vivli. The Light Warrior." Came the greeting. Vivli dropped to one knee. Unlike the Grand Duke, there had been no formal tradition, and she was still in her robe.

"Star Sybil. It's an honour to meet you." She stammered.

"Rise." Came the instruction. Vivli did so. "So you are the one who will save our world?" The Star Sybil inquired.

"I've been told. I don't know-" Vivli began.

"Why are you unsure? It is your destiny, surely?" Vivli was interrupted before she got the chance to finish.

"But I don't look like a Light Warrior. I don't think like a Light Warrior. I don't act like a Light Warrior." She was rambling, but she felt it was time she expressed her fears.

"And just what should a Light Warrior act like?" The Star Sybil asked. Vivli paused, a bit surprised. "You are a mage, no?" The Sybil continued.

"Well, yes." She replied.

"You study White Magic. Why?" Came the next question.

"So I can help others." Vivli was confused.

"So, in your heart, you journey only to help others. Do you want to destroy Chaos?" Vivli was very confused now, but continued to answer.

"Yes."

"So you have a pure heart that only wants to assist others, and wish to destroy evil?" Inquired the Star Sybil.

"Urm, yes. I guess." Vivli replied, shuffling her feet nervously.

"Exactly like the Light Warriors." Stated the Star Sybil. "What's the difference?"

"I'm just not very brave." Vivli gulped, feeling very uneasy.

"Courage and bravery are different. You will learn this." The Star Sybil told the little mithra. "You have a final question, do you not?"

"Urm, yes." Vivli nervously said.

"Proceed." Instructed the Star Sybil.

"Chaos said that the gods weren't real. He said it was a lie. How can I continue if they aren't real?" The Star Sybil laughed.

"Of course they're real. Chaos needs only to crush your faith to crush you. Remember that." The Star Sybil turned away. "Goodbye, young Light Warrior, and good luck. We are all counting on you."

Vivli walked out of Heaven's Tower very confused. She felt a little better. At least she thought she did. Bootus, Voldos and Zinkata stood assembled, waiting.

"Well?" Asked the galka.

"Well, what?" Vivli shot back.

"What did she say to you?" Bootus continued. "You don't just see a goddess and then leave silently."

"I have no idea. I think she was trying to reassure me." Vivl replied.

"We've got a letter here saying we offered assistance, and some basic information the state of Windurst generally. It should be enough for the President." Zinkata explained.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Vivli asked. "Let's go home!"

"Home?" Zinkata inquired as they walked away.

"I can't cling to here forever." Vivli explained. "Now, let's get back to Bastok and get around to saving the world."

"I love how casually she says that." Voldos laughed.

The ride out was uneventful and they soon found themselves sat in the hold of a passenger ship bound for Seblina. The group were mostly silent. This brought back unpleasant memories.

"We've been through a lot, haven't we?" Vivli said, quite randomly.

"Yeah. We have." Zinkata replied.

"I mean, it feels like decades ago we fought the quadav in the mines, or you stole my money." Zinkata laughed at the thought.

"It's funny to think how far we've been. How much we've been through." Vivli was pondering the past.

"Yeah, yet you still always argue." Voldos pointed out.

"Hey, it's playful. Right?" Vivli said with a shrug.

"Keep telling yourself that." Bootus smirked.

"See? Like that." Vivli pointed out.

"Did you have a point to this?" Bootus asked.

"Not really. Was just thinking about it." Vivli replied.

"Think with your head, not with your mouth." Bootus advised. A robed figure looked over to them, and quickly ran out the door to the deck above.

"What was that about?" Voldos asked.

"Let's fine out." Zinkata replied, getting up.

The four ran out on deck to see clearly a figure in a large brown robe. The figure stumbled back, ending up at the bow of the ship.

"We don't want to hurt you. Who are you?" Zinkata asked, taking a cautious step towards the figure.

"You will want to hurt me." A female voice replied. "I can guarantee it." Vivli's eyes widened.

"Alexandria?" The little mithra ran in, throwing off the robe to reveal the twisted White Mage. She looked beaten. Her long black hair was knotted and ragged and her face gave the impression she hadn't rested in days.

"Wait! Please!" She stumbled back. "I'm not your enemy!"

"You would claim that." Vivli said fiercely.

"I can explain!" Alex begged.

"Yes. And why should we let you?" Vivli advanced on her.

"Can't you trust me, just for once?" Vivli froze as she heard that word.

"_Trust? _You would ask me to trust?" Vivli lunged at the fleeing girl, but Bootus grabbed her tail and stopped her. "OW! What the hell are you doing?" She yelled at the gigantic galka.

"While I admire the fact you're finally not being a coward, I think we should listen." Bootus advised.

"She's a liar! She lied before! She betrayed us before!" Vivli protested.

"Yes, and she's surrounded by four heavily armed adventurers." He paused, looking at Vivli. "Three heavily armed adventurers." He corrected. Vivli grumbled. "So let's hear her out, then consider the facts."

"Okay. Please. Listen." Alexandria panted. "I became a summoner, as you know. But I got greedy. I acquired all the avatars I could. But it wasn't enough. I wanted more."

"See? She admits she's greedy!" Vivli cried.

"Greed doesn't mean she's evil." Zinkata advised. Vivli grumbled again.

"I figured I could summon something more powerful. So I tried." She paused. "I got the spirit of Uggalepih. Of Chaos." She paused again. "You know how a summoner absorbs the power of the summon?" She didn't wait for an answer. "The power of Chaos was too much. He corrupted me."

"Oh, and you're free of it now?" Vivli asked sceptically.

"When you defeated me, the spirit left my body. It thinks I'm dead. I guess." She mumbled.

"And what are you doing now?" Voldos took a step forward, moving the furious Vivli back to avoid provoking an unnecessary confrontation.

"I don't know. Wondering the land." She gulped. "I was going to return to the Monastery, but I figured they wouldn't want me there."

"She's right." Vivli spat. Bootus yanked hard on her tail. "OW!" She yelped.

"Be quiet." The galka grumbled.

"I need to repent for what I've done, but I don't know how." Alexandria began to cry. Vivli watched this, and suddenly felt a change in her heart. That horrible realisation dawned on her that she may have been wrong.

"I'm sure, if you're telling the truth, you'll find a way." The mithra said painfully.

"Yeah, and if you're lying and betray us, next time we'll make sure you won't survive." Zinkata warned.

"Hold on, if you've turned back to the side of good, you can help us." Voldos said, as if having an idea. "What is Chaos planning?"  
"He wants to rule Vana'diel. He's heading to the Temple of Uggalepih. His temple." Vivli's face erupted into a look of horror.

"What is it?" Zinkata asked quickly. She scrambled in her bag and pulled out her maps.

"You know the legend of how the Temple of Uggalepih came to be?" She asked, her eyes scanning rapidly over the maps.

"It was constructed by the words of the demon himself, by the very plans he laid out." Alex filled in. "At least that's what the legend says."

"They match!" Vivli gasped.

"What matches?" Snapped Bootus.

"The Temple of Uggalepih! It's the same!"

"Same as what?" Bootus was getting angrier.

"The Temple of the Fiends."

"What?" Cried Voldos.

"The Temple of the Fiends. Where the final battle with Chaos took place over a million years ago." Vivli explained.

"They must have reconstructed it." Alexandria gasped.

"Why would they have done that?" Zinkata inquired.

"I don't know. Chaos used it-" She paused. "Oh no."

"What?" Bootus shouted.

"Chaos used the Temple of the Fiends to go two thousand years into the past." Vivli's face was paralysed with shock.

"I don't get it." Voldos muttered.

"He doesn't want to take over Vana'diel." Vivli stated. "He wants Gaia."

"Gaia is a dead world. It's shifted and changed over the last million years. It no longer exists!" Cried Bootus.

"You fool!" Vivli yelled. "He's going to use the reconstructed Temple of the Fiends to go back in time! He's going to take over Gaia!"

"At least Vana'diel will remain safe." Voldos said with a shrug.  
"There won't _be _a Vana'diel!" Vivli cried. "He'll destroy it before we exist!"

"How can we stop him?" Zinkata asked quickly.

"We do what we're planning. We gather the crystal shards, and then we go to the Temple of Uggalepih and face him."

"What if he's already gone to the past?" Voldos inquired.

"Then we follow the steps of the Light Warriors. We go too." Vivli stated.

"History likes repetition, doesn't it?" Zinkata smirked.

"I'll pray for you." Alexandria told them. "If what you say is true, then the fate of everything that was, is and ever will be again rests in your hands."

"Chaos will destroy our past, our present and our future. He's not satisfied with ruling the world. He wants to crush it and everything it ever was." Vivli explained what Alexandria had meant to the others.

"Well, then we're without options." Zinkata stated. "We have to stop him."

"Thanks for the information Alex." Vivli said softly. "I'm sorry if I misjudged you."

"Its understandable." Alex replied.

"We've arrived in Seblina!" Announced the ship's captain (who was, of course, Steve).

"I wish I could go with you, but I need to find a way to repent for my sins." She paused. "I can never cast magic again until I do. I just can't bring myself to do it."

"Goodbye Alex." Vivli said.  
"Goodbye," Alex paused, "Heroes." She added with a smile.

The four found themselves stood back in Seblina.

"Well, the fate of the world depends upon us." Zinkata began. "Let's not hang around." The adventurers found themselves walking out into the dunes, knowing that they had to move as quickly as possible.


	18. XVIII

**PART XVIII**

"_The darkness of the temple throbbed around them."_

"_Stoppit!"_

"_Out of the darkness they saw four shining blades."_

"_You know this bit always scares me!"_

"_It was the fiend herself, Kary!"_

"_I thought she was called Marilith?"_

"_Do you want to hear this story or not?"_

"_No! I've been saying that for the past hour! You know it scares me!"_

"_Why do you think I'm telling it?"_

"_Oh, I hate you sometimes."_

Looking back on events, some things are blindingly obvious that weren't before. For example, the fact that Uggalepih and Chaos were the same. It was obvious. The obvious thing that really bugged Vivli was the fact that the Temple of the Fiends had something to do with the puzzle. As a young girl, it had always been the part of the story that scared her, and this is why Fiorel always repeated it to her. She admitted in her head it wasn't just as a little girl. Just remembering the story sent a chill down her spine. _Note to self: Never let Bootus find out_ she thought. And every time she complained, Fiorel would tell her it was vital to the story. She'd ask why. The explanation would be Chaos needed it to achieve his goals. How she had missed it before she never knew.

"This is ridiculous." Bootus sighed. Vivli had been thinking this while catching her breath. "How are we ever meant to save the world if we're waiting for her all the time?"

"It's not my fault I don't have legs as long as you!" Vivli protested, straightening up.

"I blame Seblina." Zinkata muttered. "If they had a chocobo stable we wouldn't have this problem."

"I am not a problem!" Cried the little mithra.

"I respectfully-" Voldos began.

"Don't say it!" Vivli snapped.

"Does anybody else hear thundering?" Bootus inquired. They turned to see a sheep charging them. The others dived out the way and it rammed into Vivli, flipping her over it. She landed roughly.

"AH!" She exclaimed. The sheep span around to be hit by an arrow from Voldos. Bootus ran in and finished it with a strong punch to the jaw.

"Damn. With all this fate of the world stuff I forgot it was just as dangerous to travel in general." Zinkata sighed. "You alright?" He asked down to Vivli.

"Not quite." She winced, trying to move. The others helped her up. "Ow." She whimpered.

"Oh, don't be a wuss." Sighed Bootus. "You're just bruised a little."

"My ankle hurts!" Vivli protested. Bootus's face beamed with an idea.

"I think I know how to kill two quadav with one stone!" He exclaimed.

"Put me down!" Vivli yelled, struggling in the galka's arms.

"No. It's faster this way." Bootus was holding Vivli across his arms as they walked, now through the Konschtat Highlands. "Besides, you wouldn't want to walk in your state, would you?"

"Well, I could heal myself if some stupid galka would stop carrying me around!" She cried. Bootus sniggered. Vivli tried to cast a cure spell anyway, but found it too difficult while being carried along.

"Hey!" Zinkata cried from up ahead. "I can see Bastok!"

"You can?" Bootus dropped Vivli and ran for where Zinkata was stood.

"OW!" Came an exclamation from behind.

Voldos, Bootus and Zinkata were stood, looking out over the desert that they were approaching to see the large stone city in the distance.

"I'm home!" Cried Bootus. Not even the sound of the healing spell in the background could distract him.

"Still prefer San D'Oria." Voldos said.

"I still prefer _not _being dropped on the floor!" Yelled Vivli, joining them.

"You wanted to be put down." Bootus smirked.

"Let's just get back to Bastok." Zinkata sighed, wearingly.

"Pay me fifty gil and I'll dance!" Cried a tarutaru.

"I'm looking for lizard skins!" Yelled a hume.

"Does anybody want to join my linkshell group?" Some galka was shouting.

"Hasn't changed a bit!" Bootus said enthusiastically.

"Hasn't changed a bit." Voldos sighed depressively.

"I say we see the President tomorrow. For now, let's get some rest and sort out anything we need to." Zinkata instructed the others. Recently Vivli had almost replaced him as the leader, and he wanted to restore his position of power.

"Excellent!" Vivli cried. "I'm going to sleep!" She ran off. The others shook their heads.

"Well, you've been gone for a while!" Snapped the moogle as it buzzed around her room.

"We've been on an important mission." Vivli countered.

"Care to tell me about it, kupo?" The moogle asked.

"I'm far too tired. Doubt you'd be interested anyway." Vivli collapsed on her bed, pulling off her robe.

"Oh, just shrug me off. Fine then." The moogle flew away. Vivli sighed. It was getting dark outside, and thus, inside. She set up a lamp and let it burn. Not because she was planning to stay awake, but because she was too scared of the dark to let it stay dark. A primitive nightlight. This was another thing she hoped Bootus would never find out.

A cold gust of wind awoke her in the middle of the night. A gust of wind that blew out the light of her lamp. The room plunged into darkness and the temperature felt like it dropped dramatically. She pulled her own quilt up over her body, pulling it close to her in fear. She wanted to get up to relight the lamp, but was too afraid. She shivered, wrapping herself up in her covers as much as she could. She was close to cowering under them. Her door creaked.

"Hello?" She cried nervously. There was no response. Two burning red eyes could be seen from the doorway. She screamed in terror as soon as she saw them, and backed away to the rear of the small room. Through the darkness stepped a skeletal figure, a crimson robe hanging around him.

"Vengeance." It whispered. "Oh, glorious vengeance." Vivli rose, shaking.

"No. It can't be." She cried. She literally cried. Tears streamed down her face.

"Death is just the beginning." It taunted.

"Signot! No! It can't be you! It can't!"

Vivli bolted awake in her bed, covered in a cold sweat and crying.

"What the hell was that?" She whimpered, looking around the darkened room, the lamp's light fighting feebly against the darkness. One of the books she had been reading about the Light Warrior legend was sat on a table near her bed. She had recently read about the fiends. _Of course, Lich. The Fiend of the Earth. He must have become stuck in my head somehow. _She thought of those fearful red eyes and looked over to her door, snuggling back up into her covers out of fear. _Don't be silly! _Her brain snapped. _It was a dream! _Her body was less co-operative, and she stayed huddled, shaking. She pulled her own knees up to her chest.

"What's the matter?" Came a voice.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed.

"Ow. Don't do that!" Whined the moogle.

"You little…" She began. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"Why? I'm always here. Not like I can go anywhere, kupo." The moogle pointed out. Vivli just scowled at it.

"Why can't I do anything without being scared?" Vivli asked aloud.

"I think it's because you're a coward." The moogle suggested.

"Shut up!" Vivli cried. "Even my moogle mocks me." She added in a whimper.

"Urm. Don't go saying anything, kupo." The moogle suspiciously muttered. "I don't want to get fired."

"You can get fired?" Vivli asked, surprised.

"Of course. We have to respect the owner's of the household." The moogle paused. "We're like slaves."

"That's not very nice." Vivli muttered.

"Stop complaining. I'm the slave. Not you." The moogle pointed out. Vivli turned over and tried to sleep. She couldn't. She was too scared.

"You look tired." Came the pleasant greeting.

"Be quiet." Vivli mumbled.

"Well, we ready to see the President?" Bootus said nervously.

"Let's get it over with." Vivli grumbled groggily.

"You what?" Exclaimed the President to the assembled adventures. "You're telling me that the Demon Lord Chaos, a villain from a child's fairy tale, has been resurrected and is planning to destroy the past?"

"Urm. Yes." Zinkata said uneasily.

"It's laughable! You're an insult to me just standing there!" The President cried.

"The letter from Windurst confirms it." Zinkata explained.

"Windurst? That bunch of midgets and kitty cats?" Vivli looked slightly offended. "I'm sorry, but I have no time to listen to this rubbish."

"Sir, all we need is the location of the crystal shard. Is it that much trouble?" Zinkata asked.

"Fine. I don't know of any crystal shard, but the legends say the tomb of one of the Light Warrior's used to exist where the marsh is now. You could look there." He paused to try and calm himself. "Now get the hell out of my sight." The pause didn't work.

"He's friendlier than I remember." Voldos said sarcastically as they walked out of the building.

"So, what's the plan?" Bootus asked, stopping and folding his arms to get a look of authority.

"Well, the fact that a tomb used to exist where the marshes are isn't very useful." Zinkata admitted. "The marshes are huge and a tomb would be deep underground _if _it even still existed, but it is our only lead." He paused in thought. "I say we go to the marsh and search the cave."

"No way!" Vivli cried. "I'm not going back in any cave!"

"Fate of the world, remember?" Bootus gave her the needed reminder.

"Oh, dammit!" She cried.

"Right, settled." Zinkata said. "Let's stock up on what we need and move out. The President still gave us reward money remember? Put it to good use. We'll meet at the south gate."

Vivli arrived last, looking at the others slouched against a wall.

"What took you?" Bootus asked.

"I was buying spells." She replied. "Means I can heal more effectively."

"Oh, for a moment then I thought you might be able to actually _hurt _enemies." Bootus taunted.

"I can't wait until I can afford silence." Vivli said wishfully. "I got a new staff to!" She held up a long wooden stick. The others shrugged to this.

"We're going to be doing a lot of exploring, so let's ride chocobos so we can cover more ground." Zinkata advised. "Follow me to the stable."

The chocobos splashed through the muddy ground of the marsh, but they were no closer to finding anything.

"There must be something around here!" Voldos cried, getting weary. "I haven't even seen a chick to hit on."

"It is strangely deserted." Zinkata admitted.

"The ride here took a long time, and we've been exploring for hours. It'll be dark soon." Vivli narrated.

"Yeah, we were aware of that." Bootus grumbled. "I don't see what we can do. There's nothing here."

"We have a tent with us. I say we set up camp and search tomorrow. We can then head back if need be. If the crystal shard has been lost beneath this marsh, then I don't know what we can do." Zinkata sighed. He lowered himself off the chocobo, holding onto its leesh. Voldos swung down skilfully. Bootus half fell and half jumped off. Vivli leapt off, sending mud splashing all over herself.

"Ew!" She cried. Bootus giggled. "It's not funny!"

"Right, we'll tie the chocobo's up and set up the tent." Zinkata instructed. "Won't be pleasant on this soft ground, but we have little choice."

"What can we use to tie them to?" Voldos asked, before turning his attention to Vivli's staff.

"Oh, come on. It's new. Don't-" They grabbed it off her and slammed it down in the mud, so that is sunk enough to hold the chocobos. "Why do I bother?" She grumbled.

The tent was fully set up and the others walked in. Vivli wondered in behind them, and dropped onto the floor.

"I hate mud." She commented, looking at her feet and robe that was covered in it.

"Is there anything you like?" Bootus asked.

"That's hardly the point." Vivli grumbled.

"Okay, the plan for tomorrow should be simple." Zinkata began.

"Oh good. Means Bootus can handle it." Vivli shot.

"Quiet, you." Bootus snapped.

"As I was saying, it's simple." Zinkata tried to continue. "As we can see by this map," He pulled out the map in question, "We haven't explored the south east yet. If there's going to be a cave, I say it'll be there. I think we should head for there and do an extensive search of the edge, looking for any possible path underground."

"Sounds like a plan." Voldos said, lying back on the floor.

"For now, let's get some sleep." Zinkata advised.

Vivli was tired from running. She stopped, panting, leant against the cold stone wall. She turned around. The two red eyes were gaining on her. She ran again, but her body couldn't keep it up. She fell from exhaustion. No matter how much air she took in, her body wasn't recovering.

"No!" She screamed as the skeletal Signot closed on her. "You're not real!" Her brain was catching up with her fears. "This is a dream!"

"Who are you to say what is real and what is not?" Signot snapped. "Cower in your belief it is a dream if you want. Let your ignorance take you as I kill you."

"You're just trying to frighten me!" She called from the floor.

"Yes." Snarled Signot, bending down and picking her up in his skeletal hand. She felt the cold bone around her neck, as if it was draining her own life energy. "Be afraid, Vivli. Be afraid!" His eyes flared a bright red and Vivli screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"HELP!" She bellowed to no response. She was beginning to lose air. She couldn't speak.

"Yes! Yes! Fear me!" Signot cried, as if he was feeding off her own emotions. "Fear me and see what you unleash!" Signot vanished and she slammed into the floor.

Vivli screeched, bolting up right and jumped into the nearest person's arms out of fear. It was Bootus.

"ARGH! GET HER OFF! GET HER OFF!" The galka yelled quickly. Vivli slipped off and looked around at the waking tent in embarrassment.

"What's wrong?" Zinkata quickly asked.

"Scary dream?" Bootus said sarcastically. Vivli put her hand on her heart. It was pounding.

"Just a nightmare." She gasped.

"Aw, there there." Bootus's sarcasm was ridiculously obvious.

"Shut up." She cried, gasping for breath from the fear. "I-" She froze. Outside the tent she could see two red dots, glowing through the fabric. Eyes. She screamed, recoiling in terror. "It's him! It's him!" She cried, pointing to the red eyes. The others turned.

"What? I don't see anything." Zinkata told her. Vivli curled up in a ball, crying. "Just, try to sleep. We'll sort this out in the morning." Zinkata advised. She grabbed hold of him as he came close, like some form of child-like primal fear. Zinkata sighed, allowing her to cuddle up to him for comfort.

Morning came about and Vivli was completely silent about what had happened in the night. She had heard of reoccurring dreams, but never had she experienced them. Especially one that was so scary. And it wasn't the same dream, just the same figure. Those red eyes.

"What the hell?" Came a cry from outside. Vivli ran out of the tent, forgetting they were in a marsh and splashed down into the mud.

"Eugh!" She screamed.

"Someone's stolen the chocobos!" Voldos cried, pointing to the empty spot where the chocobos had been tied up.

"And my staff!" Vivli yelled angrily.

"Looks like they were frightened off." Zinkata guessed, looking at the tracks in the soft ground. "Impossible to tell." Vivli went pale with fear, remembering the eyes from the night.

"Impossible." She whispered. The others ignored her. She shook her head, snapping out of it. "I can't believe I lost my staff again!" She moaned.

"Maybe you should just give up with weapons." Bootus suggested. "Not like you use them anyway."

The four adventurers splashed across the muddy ground. Vivli sank awkwardly, and was once again struggling to keep up.

"I hate being short." She muttered. "And I hate mud! Did I mention that?"

"I do seem to recall you mentioned it." Bootus said thoughtfully. "About fifty times! Shut up!" Vivli grumbled something, and went back to being quiet.

"Right, we're coming to the area. I say we split into twos. That way, two of us can head north, and two of us can head south." Zinkata was glad he was firmly back in the leadership position.

"I'll go with anyone but Bootus!" Vivli cried.

"I'll take Voldos." Bootus decided.

"Right, Vivli, you're with me." Zinkata stated. "We'll head south, you go north."

"This is ridiculous." Bootus commented.

"You're starting to sound like Vivli." Sighed Voldos.

"You have to admit, it is. We're searching for a cave so that we can deeper in the very slim chance there is a tomb from a million years ago still around. A million years! This is ridiculous!" The gigantic galka cried.

"It's the only lead we have. Besides, it's just until the end of today." Voldos explained. There was a pause.

"Gentleman. You are looking for the crystal shards?" Came a voice from behind. "Perhaps I can be of assistance."

"Why a marsh?" Vivli asked. "Why couldn't they have built it in a nice sensible non-muddy place?"

"It wasn't a marsh when they built it, Viv." Zinkata pointed out.

"So they should have had the foresight to build it in a place that would never become a marsh!" She yelled.

"You could complain for your nation." Zinkata grumbled. There was a roar of thunder and it began to rain.

"I don't even need to comment on this!" She yelled, holding out her hands as the rain thundered down around her.

"At least it'll wash out the mud your complaining about!" Zinkata shouted back. Vivli paused.

"Nope, now I'm just wet and muddy." She paused again. "And cold."

"You're cold?" Zinkata cried. "Try wearing metal armour. When that gets wet it's freezing!"

"At times like these, I'm glad I just wear a robe." She muttered.

"Hey, is it me, or is something coming this way?" Zinkata pointed to a blue glow approaching them. Vivli peered closer. She thought she could see two red dots. She froze, paralysed in fear.

Bootus and Voldos were floating through the air, in a strange dark blue glow. A black caped skeleton walked below them. The cape was ragged and torn.

"Zinkata!" Boomed the voice of the creature. Zinkata ran towards it. "You're time has come."

"Who are you? What have you done to them?" Zinkata cried.

"Oh please, Zinkata, you know. You wanted a rematch. You wanted to destroy me alone. Here is your chance." The skeleton laughed loudly.

"Signot? No!" Zinkata gasped.

"Yes. I died but my spirit endured. I knew I needed an emotion powerful enough to bring me back to your world. As a spirit, I could feed on emotions. Vivli's fear was what I needed. That pathetic mithra gave me the boost and returned me to the world." He paused. "And now I want my vengeance. I was able to subdue these two, just so we could have the fight to ourselves."

"What about me?" Vivli stammered.

"Oh, yes. You are no threat." Signot casually dismissed her.

"Hey! I killed you!" Vivli cried.

"No, you didn't. Chaos destroyed me for my failure. I will have revenge. Revenge on Chaos. I will destroy Chaos and then do what he never could! Rule Vana'diel!" Signot paused for a snarl. "That is why you must die. I will take the crystal shards from your corpses. With the one I have already found deep beneath this marsh, I shall be unstoppable." He held up the crystal shard. Zinkata's eyes widened.

"Signot! Hand over the shard! We can stop Chaos!" Zinkata cried.

"Never!" Signot spat. A ghostly image of his weapon formed in his hands. "Come, Zinkata, let us settle what began. Let us finish was started. Let us end our battle once and for all." Zinkata drew his sword.

"You were my father. My mentor. And my sworn enemy. Even in death, you continue to betray me." Zinkata spun the sword in his hand. "I will see to it that you will never harm another soul living or dead!"

"Excellent!" Signot barked. "Let us do battle!"

The two charged each other.


	19. XIX

**PART XIX**

"_They will not breech the city walls!"_

"_CHARGE! REPEL THE INVADERS!"_

"_What's going on?"_

"_Dammit! Get him out of here!"_

"_They just took out the front lines!"_

"_Don't let them through!"_

"_I don't understand."_

"_Get him out of here!"_

"_Look out- ARGH!"_

That was twenty years ago. As a teenager Bootus had watched beastmen attack the city. He had watched Bastok repel the attacks. He had watched people die while he was helpless to intervene. He had promised that would never happen again. Yet here he was, floating in the air, completely helpless, as his friends fought a deadly opponent.

Yes. His friends. Vivli and Zinkata. He didn't treat them like friends, but he trusted them, and would, in truth, do anything for them. And now he was watching them die.

The demonic skeletal Signot forced Zinkata back with a couple of well timed blocks, and sliced him in the arm, across the face, and then in the leg. Zinkata fell down. A white light covered his body and the wounds closed.

"Nice try!" Vivli cried. "But it's not over yet!" Zinkata flung himself back up, kicking Signot back. He ran at him, attacking. Signot blocked them, and parried the attacking human's sword to the ground. He struck upwards, hitting the ex-thief through the air with inhuman force. Zinkata crashed down.

"As you can see, I am more powerful now than I ever was!" Signot cried. "You cannot stand against me!" Vivli cast something and a blue shield covered Zinkata. "Ah, protect. Very well. I shall resort to new attacks." He blasted Zinkata with a lightning bolt. Zinkata screamed in pain.

"Fine then. Shell!" Vivli cast something else and a green light came up around him.

"You are beginning to irritate me, mage." Scowled Signot, walking towards Vivli.

"S-s-stay back!" She stammered.

"Or what? You'll heal me?" Signot asked sarcastically.

"That's it! Vivli! Heal him!" Zinkata cried from the floor. Vivli shrugged in confusion, but did so. Signot yelped in pain, dropping to a knee.

Zinkata charged, tackling the skeleton. The two rolled along the ground. Signot thrust Zinkata off with an extremely powerful blow. The warrior crashed down, but was mostly unhurt.

"Banish!" Vivli cried, feeling the need to narrate her own spells. Signot yelped again.

"Time for you to die, little girl!" Spat the demonic creature, charging the mithra. Vivli screamed in terror. Zinkata hurled his sword, and it hit Signot in his bony leg. Signot dropped..

The creature rose again, facing Zinkata.

"You still want to fight?" Signot asked.

"Of course!" Spat Zinkata.

"You cannot take me as I am now." Signot taunted. "You cannot defeat me alone."

"It was selfish of me to desire revenge alone." Zinkata replied. "I draw upon my friends to help."

"Your friends are beyond your help." Signot spat.

"Shellra!" Vivli cried, and a green shell enveloped all four of the party members. As it grew over Voldos and Bootus, it drove the blue energy from them, causing them to drop.

"Very well!" Screamed Signot, trying to hide his rage. "I will destroy you all at once!" Signot charged them, and Voldos drew his bow, firing an arrow. Signot swung to the side, and engaged Zinkata in combat. Voldos swung down with his sword, but Signot kicked him away. Bootus came up behind, driving his fists into the creature's ribs. Signot shot a fireball, blasting Bootus back. He turned to Zinkata. He drove the ex-thief back, just before Voldos ran in, slicing off the demon's skeletal arm.

"Argh!" He yelped for a moment. "Impressive." The arm reformed from the pieces that had been removed. "But you cannot kill that which is already dead."

"Generally speaking, you don't have to." Voldos quipped.

"And what made you think there was anything general about your lives?" Signot asked, attacking again. He knocked Voldos's sword aside, but Zinkata managed to knock away Signot's weapon in the same attack. Signot's weapon disappeared as it hit the ground in a puff of black smoke. Bootus took this opportunity to attack.

He pummelled Signot back, landing strike after strike to his face. Signot stumbled back, his red eyes blazing. Bootus then drove a fist up into the skeleton's chest, and finished with a powerful kick to his chest. The skeleton was hurled onto the floor.

Signot burst into the air, bony wings forming from his back, almost like the wings of a dead dragon.

"You fools!" He spat. "You cannot kill me! Not now!"

"We'll see about that!" Bootus cried, running at him. A bolt of lightning struck the galka down. Bootus managed to stumble up, just to see the demonic image flying over him.

"That's impossible!" Zinkata cried. "You can't have obtained that power alone!"

"The power Chaos granted me lives on even in death." Signot warned.

"Of course!" Vivli cried. "Signot, you moron! Chaos is still manipulating you!"

"NEVER!" Spat Signot. "I am in control! I choose to destroy you!"

"Chaos would have planned for this. It's part of his plot to destroy us." Zinkata told Signot, taking Vivli's lead.

"No! No! I destroy of my own will!" Signot cried.

"FIRE!" Zinkata signalled Voldos. Arrows hurtled at Signot.

"Fools!" Signot yelled, taking the hits like it was nothing. "You can't harm me!" The earth quaked, knocking the adventures down. He hurled more fire balls at them, hitting Voldos and Zinkata. Bootus dodged, and ran at Signot. He jumped, and tackled the demon. The two tumbled to the floor, but Bootus was quickly flung off. A white light from Vivli's banish spell caused the demon to falter.

"I have an idea!" Announced Zinkata. "Bootus, throw me at him!"

"This should be fun!" Bootus picked up Zinkata, holding him high above his head, and hurled the human at Signot. Zinkata sliced off one of the skeletal wings in the air, causing Signot to tumble to the ground.

"Pathetic." Signot taunted.

"Your wing, it hasn't reformed. You're weakening!" Vivli cried.

"Oh, I have had enough of you!" Signot hurled a lightning bolt, striking Vivli and knocking her to the ground. She screamed in agony. He ran in towards her, lifted her up and held the struggling mithra out like a shield. "Come and get me!" He cried.

It was a fearful sight. A one winged skeleton clutching a feebly struggling girl in its undead hand. Vivli let out an angry cry.

"I am fed up with this!" She spat. "Banish!" She tried to cast the spell, but Signot slammed her into the ground before it could be cast. He summoned his weapon again.

"This is far from over." He muttered, driving the blade down towards Vivli. Vivli managed to roll aside and it splashed down in the marsh. She tried to crawl away, but Signot pulled her back by her tail. She yelped. Arrows flew in before he could do anything and he was tackled by a charging galka.

Bootus pounded the villain on the floor, but was flung off again.

"I will not die!" Signot screamed. Zinkata ran at him, and the two duelled. Signot cut Zinkata cross the hand and stabbed him. He went down. Vivli ran over, beginning to cast cure spells. Voldos ran in, taking his place.

Zinkata found himself in a strange black void. _Oh great, I hate these near death experiences _he thought. He saw something blue, glowing. A crystal shard. _Of course! The shard! _He suddenly figured it out. _Hurry up and cure me!_

Signot threw Voldos back, into Bootus. The two tumbled backwards. Zinkata sat up, healed by Vivli's spells.

"It's the shard!" Zinkata cried. "That's why we can't harm him! The shard is too powerful. We have to get it off him!"

"How?" Vivli cried.

"Hold him down with a spell, we'll attack!" Zinkata advised. Vivli tried to cast, but nothing happened. She fell to her knees from the effort.

"I'm out. I need to focus!" She cried, praying in an attempt to regain her casting power.

"Okay, I'll improvise." Zinkata ran at Signot, swinging upwards. He managed to parry Signot's weapon aside, and powered himself in against the skeleton, ripping the crystal shard from around Signot's neck. Signot pulled his sword back and struck down the warrior. Zinkata fell, tossing the crystal shard away. Voldos caught it.

"Sorry, old friend." Signot laughed at Zinkata's body, bleeding on the muddy floor.

"You will be!" Spat Voldos. "We have the shard!"

"Oh, please!" Signot muttered wearily. "That was just helping me regenerate. You still have to defeat me. I don't believe you can." Bootus launched himself at Signot, but the skeleton just stabbed the galka, driving him back. Voldos ran at him, and the two duelled more successfully.

A white light embraced Zinkata.

"I'm back!" Vivli cried. Zinkata got up slowly.

"Let's finish this guy off!" Zinkata called, running at the skeleton. He hurled his sword and it lodged in Signot's head.

"NO! NO!" Bellowed Signot. "NOOOOOO!"

The skeleton exploded in a flash of bright white light. The heroes were thrown back into the marsh. Mud splattered everywhere.

There was a moment of silence.

"Ew!" Cried Vivli, getting up, soaked in mud.

"That was interesting." Zinkata muttered.

"What do you think that was all about, then?" Voldos asked.

"My theory is Chaos made sure that when Signot died he would be able to return." Vivli guessed.

"Sounds like Chaos killed him himself in the end, though." Bootus pointed out.

"Even if he did, Chaos knew he'd come after us first." Vivli said with a shrug. "Just another challenge we had to face."

"Dammit!" Bootus cried sarcastically. "Why is saving the world so difficult?"

"At least we have the shard. Let's head back to Bastok, and see what we can do next." Zinkata sighed.

"You know, finding the shard wasn't that difficult." Voldos remarked. "If the next one is this easy, we'll be laughing."

"If you call this easy, I don't want to know what difficult is!" Vivli exclaimed.

The four soon arrived back in Bastok. Vivli disappeared instantly to her moghouse where she collapsed from exhaustion. This left the other three adventurers to ponder what to do next. Voldos had taken the third crystal shard, leaving only Bootus without one.

"Where do we go now?" The elvaan asked with a shrug.

"I don't know." Zinkata replied. "Vivli is our resident Light Warrior expert."

"Yeah, but she's got the stamina of a six year old." Bootus interjected. "Hence why she's not here."

"To be fair to her, we did just battle a murderous skeleton and then walk all the way back to Bastok." Zinkata pointed out.

"Well, I'm not tired." Bootus said proudly.

"What can we do then?" Voldos asked.

"Go to the tavern?" Zinkata suggested.

"Great idea!" Voldos cried.

Bootus sat with a large mug of beer in his hand. He was watching as Voldos was trying to chat up some young mithran girl. It was highly entertaining.

"Come on! Can I play with your tail?" He asked.

"No. Go away." The mithran cried.

"But their cool!" He told her passionately.

"That doesn't give you the rrrrrright to go nearrrrrrr it." She reminded him. Voldos had forgotten the funny way normal mithra talk having hung around Vivli for so long, and so this caught him slightly off guard. This caused him to pause.

"Pleeeeeease?" He begged. Bootus turned away, just listening for it. **SLAP! **It came soon enough. Voldos came over, rubbing his cheek.

"I'm telling you, girls around here are completely unreasonable." He muttered.

"Well, how would you like it if somebody asked you if they could play with a random body appendage?" Bootus asked.

"Depends on their gender and the appendage." Voldos replied with a smile.

"Now I'm tempted to slap you." The galka grumbled.

"Besides, it isn't like an arm or a leg. It's a tail." Voldos stated.

"But to the mithra a tail _is_ like an arm or a leg, you moron." Bootus explained.

"So why do you always pull Vivli about by hers?" Voldos asked.

"Because it's convenient and I don't care if I hurt her. Somebody's got to toughen her up." Bootus pointed out.

"What makes you an expert on tails, anyway?" Voldos shot suspiciously. Bootus groaned, banging his head against the bar.

"I'm a galka. It means I have one, you idiot!" He banged his head again.

What Bootus was unaware of was that a mithran tail wasn't exactly like a galkan tail. Galka's had thick and muscling tails. Mithra did not. Their tails were much more sensitive. That helped explain why Vivli was sprawled on her bed in pain, her tail once again hurting her an excessive amount. She grumbled, and rolled onto her side. She was tired, but couldn't sleep. The day had exhausted her past the point where she needed sleep. She could barely believe they had just battled a demonic winged skeleton. It seemed almost dream like. Everything seemed dreamlike. She couldn't believe they were doing what they were doing. Four insignificant specks in the world battling an ancient evil. When she reflected on it it seemed stupid. Maybe she was imagining it all. Maybe she had gone crazy. After all, she thought she was a Light Warrior. She had never heard anything so ridiculous. Luckily, these doubts distracted her from the fact she couldn't sleep enough for her to fall to sleep.

"Hey baby, did you know I have to save the world?" Voldos was trying a new approach. He got slapped. "Dammit! Does nothing work!" He cried to Bootus.

"Voldos, you can't just chat up girls with a few snappy lines. You need to be kind and appreciative to them." The galka explained.

"Bah, what would you know. You reproduce through reincarnation!" Voldos pointed out.

"Not to mention you could ruin a potentially endless source of entertainment." Zinkata laughed, walking over to the bar.

"I am not a source of entertainment!" Voldos protested, getting up off the bar stool. The sword on his back caught the stool, pulling it down with him. He spun to grab it, lost his balance and fell. The other two burst into laughter.

"What's the line?" Bootus asked. "I respectfully disagree?"

"Curse you irony!" Voldos cried from the floor.

The following morning the four had met around the fountain in the middle of Bastok. Bootus had been enjoying taking the old view he had missed so badly for the past couple of days. He turned around to face the others. Vivli was stubbornly stood some distance from the others.

"What are you doing?" The galka asked.

"I can tell you what I'm _not _doing." She replied. "I'm not buying another staff. I'm on a protest."

"What?" Bootus muttered, confused.

"Every time I buy a weapon , I lose it. I'm protesting. From now on, I'm fighting hand to hand." She stated proudly.

"Vivli, you couldn't outfight a baby tarutaru hand to hand." Bootus pointed out.

"Fine. So I just won't fight. I'll just cast spells." She explained.

"Don't you do that anyway?" Voldos asked.

"You're not helping!" She cried.

"Helping what?" The elvaan seemed confused. Vivli just let out an angry cry.

"You always ruin my fun!" She cried.

"On less petty levels of existence," Zinkata began. "What are we doing about the final crystal shard?"

"I don't know." Vivli muttered. "But I'll get researching right away!" She hung about for a moment. "Unless any of you want to help?" The others looked at each other nervously. Bootus managed to come up with a way out of them having to help.

"Urm, we'd love to help, but you're so good at researching on your own we'd hate to interfere." Bootus told Vivli. Vivli took this compliment with a bright smile.

"I'll get right on it then!" She ran off.

"Thank god for that. So what now?" Zinkata asked.

"To the tavern?" Voldos suggested.

"It's ten in the morning!" Cried Zinkata.

"Damn." Cursed Voldos.


	20. XX

**PART XX**

"_So why do I have to learn history?"_

"_It's simple. If you do not know the past, how can you avoid it in the future?"_

"_I'm a warrior. I don't need to avoid anything."_

"_Our nation would rather avoid conflict where it is possible."_

"_The past you mention was unavoidable. Monsters and beastmen beyond our control attacking."_

"_Perhaps we were too fast to anger."_

"_It was our only choice really."_

"_You think that, but if you study the past, did we ever try?"_

Voldos wondered into the library out of the dark streets. It had become evening, and he had wasted the day helping out inexperienced adventurers get to grips with adventuring. Inexperienced _ female _adventures. Sadly, most of the time this resulted in him being slapped. He had now wondered to find Vivli, and see what she had figured out. He walked through the library silently, feeling very out of place. Mages were commonplace, but warriors visited libraries less often. Especially in armour with a sword on their back.

He found Vivli slouched on a table, asleep. She was surrounded by books. Various pieces of paper had notes scribbled on them. Her face was resting on an open book in front of her. Seems like she had fallen asleep working. Voldos sniggered a little. He tried to figure out what would tire her out. He sniggered more when he realised. He noticed the books were fairly large, and fairly thick, and therefore fairly heavy. Considering Vivli's tiny frame, it would have been extremely difficult to carry them about all day. Combine that with the mental strain of the work she had been doing, and Voldos found himself with an explanation as to why she was asleep.

"Ha, and they think I'm stupid." He said aloud, getting some strange looks from the others. He gulped, and looked back down at the sleeping mithra. "Well, wake up." He said. She didn't. He shook her a bit and she looked up at him wearingly.

"What happened?" She groaned, half asleep. "Oh no, I didn't fall asleep did I?"

"I'm no expert, but I think so." Voldos replied mockingly.

"Oops." She muttered.

"What've you found out, then?" Voldos asked, changing the subject. Vivli yawned, and looked at her notes.

"Nothing. The last shard is lost." She miserably uttered. "Completely. There's no hints. There's no suggestions. We're at a dead end." She sighed heavily.

"There must be something!" Voldos cried in surprise.

"We're searching for a tiny million year old rock. It's not there. It's gone." She sounded completely hopeless.

"So that's your expert opinion?" Voldos asked. "From all this work?"

"Well, yes." She mumbled. Voldos paused. He knew they needed a direction. He suddenly had an idea of how to make Vivli find one.

"Well, I can't wait until Bootus hears about how you failed." He said, crossing his arms. "He'll be so happy to hear you failed.

"Ur, I did have one idea!" Vivli quickly cried. Voldos smiled in victory. "But it's a long shot."

"Save it. Explain to the others." Voldos told her. "We'll have to take it. It's our only choice."

The tavern had been the place chosen to gather. Vivli yawned at the table as the others gathered around much like they had before. She still felt intimidated. Also tired.

"Did you know I caught her sleeping on the job?" Voldos laughed. "Completely asleep at the table, with her face in a book."

"Like a kid doing her homework." Bootus sniggered.

"Shut up and listen to me!" Vivli snapped. "I can't find the fourth crystal shard. There are no references left. However, I did find one thing." She paused for another yawn, and wearingly rubbed her eyes. "You guys heard of Bahamut?"

"Bahamut? The legendary summon?" Bootus asked.

"Sort of. Back in the times of the Light Warriors, he was the King of Dragons." She paused, allowing the others to remember this from the legend. "He bestowed them with legendary powers, or so the story says."

"Useful." Bootus murmured. "What's that got to do with us?"

"Well, I figure, if Bahamut could award the Light Warriors like that, the least he could do is tell us where the crystal shard is." Vivli explained.

"And how do we find Bahamut?" Zinkata asked.

"Well, in Gaia, he lived below several islands that were all joined by a network of caves. The caves happened to be the Kingdom of the Dragons." She pulled out her trusty map. "Some of these islands still exist. We should be able to dip down into the cave network. The dragons were supposed to be immortal. We must be able to find a hint even if we don't find Bahamut himself."

"And just how do we _get _to the island?" Bootus asked again, enjoying asking Vivli difficult questions.

"Ah, I planned that out!" She cried. "You see, I figure we can charter a ship from Norg. Provided we pay enough, they'll go wherever we want." The others stared at her.

"You. You want to go to Norg?" Zinkata muttered.

"Yes." Vivli said, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"You wouldn't last two seconds. It's a pirate town. It's fairly rough." The ex-thief explained. "Believe me, I know."

"Hey! Stop treating me like a kid!" Vivli protested. "I can take care of myself."

"I repec-" Voldos began.

"Shut up!" Cried the little mithra. "Besides, it's not like we have a choice."

"If you're sure about this." Zinkata sighed. "Sounds like a long shot, but it's our only option." He paused. "We ride out tomorrow. Let's get some rest."

The journey to Norg was long and hard, but without incident. It took them a long time, but they soon arrived, weary from travelling. Vivli leant against Bootus, desperate to just fall asleep.

"Let's find an inn." She suggested.

"An inn?" Laughed Zinkata. "Here?" Vivli looked confused. "No, we'll just have to find somewhere safe to sleep. They'll probably let us sleep in the basement of the tavern. As long as you don't mind the rats." Vivli shivered.

"Urm. No. I don't mind rats." She lied. Nobody was convinced.

"Well, the tavern seems like a good place to start." Voldos suggested.

"Yeah, I'm sure we can find a captain there." Zinkata agreed.

"I meant to get a drink. I'm thirsty." Voldos laughed.

Vivli was beginning to see why Zinkata had warned her about coming to Norg. Even as they sat around in the tavern talking among themselves she could feel the eyes of others staring at her, like they could sense she was out of place. She had brought a new tunic, and pulled the hood up to make her feel safer.

"Found anybody?" She asked.

"No. None of them are interested in running missions for people like us. They call us tourists." Zinkata sighed. "Besides, the islands we need to get to is off the main course for ships, so there's no plunder for them."

"Damn." Vivli muttered, wagging her tail about faster than normal, showing her frustration subconsciously. "This place is packed. There must be a captain who'll take us somewhere." She surveyed the room. It was very busy, packed with humans and elves. The odd galka stood out like a sore thumb. Tarutarus were about, but hidden under the crowd. There was a distinct lack of mithra that made Vivli feel uneasy.

"I don't see any. Most of them are pirates here on shore leave." Zinkata explained, gesturing around. "There's another tavern down the street. We could check there."

"I'll go!" Vivli volunteered, wanting to get away from the tavern and the uneasy feeling it was causing.

"I'll stay and ask here." Zinkata told her. "Bootus, go with her. I don't trust her on her own."

"Oh, thanks." Bootus said sarcastically.

"Oh, thanks." Vivli said sarcastically. The two stared at each other, realising they had just said the same thing. "Let's just go." The mithra sighed.

The two walked down the street outside, which was now becoming dark.

"I'm so tired." Vivli moaned.

"I'm sure you'll live." Bootus grumbled. Vivli looked around, getting that feeling she was being stared at again. She shivered.

"This place is horrible." She muttered.

"I'm sure it doesn't like you either." Bootus told her with a smirk.

"Dammit! I'm serious!" She cried. "Everybody keeps looking at me."

"Whoa, that is weird!" Bootus gasped. "Nobody would ever look at you normally!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vivli snapped.

Voldos was slouched by the bar. He had just, predictably, been slapped.

"Voldos!" Zinkata cried. "That girl was a ship captain! We could have gotten a ride!"

"I thought girls weren't meant to be pirates." Voldos commented.

"I don't think _anybody's _meant to be pirates." Zinkata pointed out. "Besides, she's got quite a good reputation. Apparently she leads a ship full of females to counter the gender bias."

"You mean I just blew my chance to spend a boat trip on a ship full of girls?" Voldos asked. Zinkata nodded. "CURSES!" He bellowed. Zinkata sighed, and walked away.

There was a brawl inside the tavern Vivli and Bootus wondered into. Vivli quickly found herself knocked to the floor and clambered back up.

"Oh, this looks like fun!" Bootus cried.

"Speak for yourself!" Vivli whimpered, rubbing her trampled arm.

"Fine. Wait outside. I'll handle this!" Bootus dove into the brawl. Vivli shrugged and slipped out the door.

"So where are all the mithra?" Zinkata decided to ask the barkeep.

"Haven't seen 'em around since that band has been kidnapping them." The barkeep replied.

"What?" Zinkata cried.

"You haven't heard?" The barkeep sounded surprised. "Every night more and more mithra are getting kidnapped by a band of thugs. Sometimes they show up again, but they've always had their tails cut off. It's sickening." He paused. "The rumours say the band mail the tails to their boss. It's unbelievable." He paused again in disgust. "Now the only mithra you see are extremely stupid or looking to fight them."

"Oh frack!" Zinkata cried.

Vivli waited uneasily outside the tavern, surveying the street. People lurched down it, calling things out and making various rude comments. She shuffled against the wall, feeling cold and scared. She heard a voice.

"Excuse me?" The source was a middle-aged woman (an elvaan) in ragged clothes. "Someone in that alley there has been beaten. They need help!" She pointed to the alley.

"I'm a White Mage!" Exclaimed Vivli. "I'll do what I can!" Vivli turned and ran down the alley. The woman followed. Vivli turned around too late to see a punch flying at her. It knocked her out in one. The woman unclenched her fist.

"That was easy."

Zinkata ran into the tavern.

"BOOTUS!" He bellowed. The galka turned around.

"What?" He inquired.

"Where's Vivli?" He quickly cried.

"Outside." He explained.

"No, she's not." He said in panic.

"What? Where did she get to?" Bootus asked.

"Some group around here has been kidnapping mithra. They must have got her!" Zinkata quickly filled Bootus in.

"Typical." The galka muttered.

Vivli awoke with a splitting headache. She was tied to a post. She tried to move, but the ropes held her down. She groaned. The woman from the alley was stood before her. She was cradling a knife. Various pirates were scattered around the cave she found herself in.

"Hello." She said with an evil smile. "My name is Scare. Do you know what I'm going to do to you?" Vivli shook her head. Scare held up a knife. "I'm going to cut off your tail." She stated. Vivli trembled.

"P-p-please. Don't." She stammered.

"Unless-" Scare continued regardless. "You can tell me exactly where the girl known as Vivli is hiding." Vivli froze. She didn't have a clue what to say. "We need to find her. All we know is she is a mithra. Our master can identify her by a part of the body. We decided since you mithra didn't need your tails anyway, that was the best thing." Vivli trembled.

"W-w-why?" She managed to get out. "Why are you looking for her?"

"The master wants her. That's all there is to it." Scare told the frightened mithra. Vivli took a gulp and bucked up as much courage as she could.

"You serve Chaos?" She asked, trying to sound powerful and knowledgeable. It didn't work.

"Chaos? No." Scare seemed caught off guard. "What kind of thing is that to say. Chaos is a character from a story!"

"Uggalepih then!" Vivli snapped. It was a bad idea. Scare grabbed her tail and rested the knife on it, lightly, just to remind her of what was to come. Vivli shivered.

"Yes. Uggalepih." Scare told Vivli. "How do you know? Surely you're not-"

"Urm. No." Vivli trembled.

"Then tell me where she is." Scare demanded, bringing her face down to Vivli's.

"I don't know!" Vivli screamed.

"That's what they all say." She told the cowering mithra. "So we cut off their tails to make sure they aren't lying. You're no different."

"B-b-but-" Vivli stammered, but didn't have a way of finishing the sentence. She was finished either way. They either cut her tail off, or she admitted who she was and got sent to Chaos. Either way, she was in a bad position. She doubted she was strong enough to survive losing her tail and being left for dead. She knew that she was going to die unless somebody came soon.

Conveniently, just as this thought crossed her mind ,an arrow flew in, hitting one of the pirates. He went down. Voldos, Bootus and Zinkata ran into the cave.

"Hand her over!" Cried Zinkata.

"Hm. A galka. An elvaan. A hume." Scare observed. "I don't believe it!" She exclaimed, turning to Vivli. "You're her!"

"Urm. Kinda." Vivli whimpered.

"Well then. You're all going to see Uggalepih. Willing or not." Scare told the adventurers.

"Hey lady," Voldos began, "Firstly, he's Chaos, not Uggalepih. Secondly, just try it!" Bootus took up a fighting stance.

"This is going to be more fun than I expected." Scare said with a smile. "Men! Destroy them!" The pirates rushed the heroes. Voldos and Zinkata drew their swords, ready to repel the attackers.

The pirate force was fairly small. Voldos counted five. He fought them off, beating them away with his sword, but they were attacking too fast for him to be able to launch any good attacks. He slashed out wide, attracting their attention. Zinkata took this as a sign to attack them from behind. The five found themselves sandwiched between the two warriors. Bootus sprinted towards Scare and Vivli.

The pirates took a moment to realise they outnumbered the two warriors, and fought outwards, catching Zinkata in the shoulder. He hit the sword away and cut down one of the pirates. Voldos ran backwards, and jumped off the cave wall, propelling himself through the groups of pirates, and landing in a roll by Zinkata.

"Stylish." Commented Zinkata.

"Can we save that for later?" Voldos cried, dodging a sword blade.

Bootus pushed past the evil pirate and ripped the ropes from around Vivli.

"I'm only doing this out of necessity!" He pointed out.

"My hero." Vivli sarcastically commented.

"Fine. I'll send Uggalepih your corpses!" Scare cried, drawing a sword. Bootus ran. Vivli just stood there.

"Oh, thanks a lot!" The mithra backed away from Scare, and tripped over out of fright. Scare lunged, but was tackled by Bootus who had leapt back into the fray, a sword from one of the fallen pirates in his hand.  
"Again, I'm not saving you because I want to!" Bootus cried, beginning to sword duel Scare.

"Ha, save me. Yeah right! I was in complete control!" Vivli yelled back, watching the two fight.

Voldos ducked as a pirate slashed, and drove his sword upwards, into the chest of the attacker. The pirate went down.

"Three left!" Voldos cried, taking a stab to his leg. He quickly knocked the sword away and elbowed forwards, knocking the pirate back. He blocked behind him as another attacked.

This left Zinkata one on one with one of the pirates. He drove back the pirate, and cut him down easily. He ran back to Voldos, who was left in a two on one situation.

"Nearly over now!" Zinkata yelled.

Bootus was taking hits, but his galkan strength kept him going. Scare slashed him on the wrist, and he dropped the sword, bleeding. Vivli started casting a cure spell.

"No! Attack!" Bootus cried as Scare closed in to finish off the galka. "Use the sword!" Vivli swept down, grabbing it before Scare could turn, and thrust it through her chest. Scare let out a startled cry. Bootus rose up and hit Scare hard on the neck, making sure she wouldn't get back up. Voldos and Zinkata ran over.

"Pirates, dealt with." Voldos reported proudly. Vivli dropped the sword in horror. "Don't we get a thanks?" The mithra took some steps away from the body, and broke down into tears.

"What's wrong with her?" Bootus asked.

"Because she killed someone?" Voldos guessed. Vivli didn't reply.  
"No." Zinkata realised. "She broke the oath." The others looked at him for an explanation. "A White Mage shall never use a bladed weapon, and never kill unless absolutely necessary." He explained.

Vivli was behaving strangely. More so than usual. That night they were sleeping roughly in the basement of the tavern. Yet Vivli remained, sat up, staring out into the darkness with her eyes open. She didn't say anything. She cried. She sobbed. But she didn't say anything. It was as if she had done something awful. Something unforgivable. The others had tried to explain to her it was nothing bad, but she had just sat there.

She knew what was wrong. She would have to tell them. The consequences of breaking the oath.

She had lost her powers.


	21. XXI

**PART XXI**

"_He's been pretty ill lately."_

"_Damn. Can't you do anything for him?"_

"_I'm a thief. Not a medic."_

"_Come on Signot, you must have had some experience."_

"_Don't you think if I knew how to help I would?"_

"_Sorry. It's just, I can't stand to sit back and watch somebody suffer."_

"_You do it all the time. You're a thief."_

"_Well, suffering I didn't inflict, then."_

"_Ha. Yeah, well, I don't think there's anything we can do."_

"_Damn."_

Zinkata's memory of the time an illness killed a fellow thief he knew seemed appropriate. Vivli was suffering. She had been silent all night. She hadn't slept. She hadn't even complained about the rats sniffing around her. Vivli not complaining was a sign that something was very wrong.

Zinkata sighed and wondered over to her, hunched in the corner. He sat down beside her.

"Come on, tell us what's wrong." He said as gently as he could. "We can help." Vivli paused.

"But I can't." She muttered.

"What do you mean 'you can't'?" Zinkata asked curiously.

"I can't do it. I can't cast magic." She mumbled sadly. "I broke the oath. I can't cast anything anymore."

"What?" Bootus gasped. "I thought the oath was a joke. A bunch of guidelines that mages were supposed to follow, but didn't really."

"For most it is, but a few special students are selected, and under the Star Sybil they vow the most important aspects of the oath. She casts an enchantment on them to make us have to obey." She paused. "It's supposed to be a deterrent to all mages to breaking the rules." She started to cry again.

"So you were one of those students?" Bootus inquired. Zinkata didn't have the heart to ask anything else and Voldos was at a loss for words.

"Yes. And now I've betrayed my oath I've lost my powers." She explained.

"There must be some way of getting them back." Zinkata told her, trying to be comforting. "We'll find a way."

"What? And forget our mission? We have to _save the world._" Vivli reminded them. "We can't waste any time. I _need _to be able to cast."

"Can't you try and break the enchantment?" Bootus suggested. "Try to cast magic anyway?"

"Urm. I'm not sure." Vivli stood up slowly. And began to cast a spell.

She suddenly shrieked in pain and collapsed. It felt like her stomach had exploded.

"Are you alright?" Zinkata quickly asked. She was rolling in pain on the floor.

"This doesn't seem like a brilliantly thought out system." Bootus muttered. Vivli was crying. He suddenly felt something odd. He actually felt sorry for her. "Ur, I mean, you used a sword to save my life. You killed to save my life. I don't see why that's a bad thing." He added, in an attempt to make things better.

"They don't see it that way." She whimpered from the floor. "We aren't supposed to make the decision of who lives and who dies. We're supposed to help whoever needs it. Most of the time these rules are lenient, but when we make the decision to kill somebody ourselves, especially with a bladed weapon, then it's gone too far."

"What's wrong with a bladed weapon?" Voldos asked, decided to try and put some input. The question wasn't supposed to be insensitive, but to take her mind off her problems.

"A bladed weapon can only kill." Vivli explained. "That is its purpose. A staff supports. And when used as a weapon, it only bludgeons, rarely killing. Hence why we use them as a last resort."

"The 'extreme pain' result of trying to cast seems a little excessive." The elvaan sighed.

"Punishment." Vivli told him, trying to get up, but being overridden with pain.

"Look." Bootus began. "You rest. We'll go and find somebody to take us to the islands." It sounded strange to hear something sympathetic from the gigantic galka. "I know we'd be better off returning to Windurst, but we don't have the time."

"Okay." Vivli said quietly. "I'll wait here."

The three adventurers strolled towards the port and the docked ships, hoping to find something there.

"What was that, Bootus?" Voldos mocked. "Was that sympathy I saw back there?"

"I didn't want to have to put up with her crying. It was an excuse to leave her back there." Bootus sighed.

"Sorry, what's that? I couldn't hear you over that sound of a blatant lie!" Voldos joked, bursting into laughter.

"Shut up!" Bootus snapped. "I can be sympathetic if I want to." The three stopped, looking at the ships. A fairly small one was docked neatly against the edge. A scruffy looking human in a beaten brown jacket was loading barrels onto it. He walked up a ramp onto the ship and started fiddling with some kind of pulley system.

"Excuse me?" Zinkata asked.

"Two seconds." Came the response, as swung a rope down to a large crate. "Hook that on the crate." Zinkata did so. He pulled on the rope and lifted the crate up onto the ship via this crude crane mechanism. "How can I help?" Asked the stranger, jumping off the ship and landing on the dock (as opposed to walking down the perfectly serviceable ramp).

"We're looking to charter a ship." Zinkata explained.

"Where to?" The man asked.

"Some small islands, way off the main ship courses." Zinkata told him.

"Small islands? Why?" The stranger questioned, going back to loading barrels.

"We're looking for the King of the Dragons in an attempt to save the world." Bootus explained, smiling.

"Good as reason as any." The stranger said. "But I'm afraid I can't help." He suddenly paused. He saw somebody marching towards him. He ducked behind the barrel, and the figure passed. "Ur, out of the way of all usual ship courses you say?" He asked popping up. Zinkata nodded. "I need to lie low. I'll do it!" He cried. "Name's Captain Sampson. Olose Sampson." He told the three. "You have one hour before we leave. Just you three?"

"And one girl." Zinkata explained. Olose's face twisted into a smile.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Vivli stepped quietly onto the boat. Olose ran over to greet her.

"Welcome on board the _Lightning_!" He cried. "It's not as fast as the name makes out, but it'll get you where you need to go." Vivli looked a little scared.

"Yeah, he's a bit hyperactive." Bootus sarcastically commented. "Could be worse. It could be Crazy Steve." Vivli smirked a little. "Ha! I saw that! A smile!" He taunted. Vivli laughed some more. Olose hurried about the ship, preparing to leave.

"We're out of here!" Olose sounded rushed. "Now!"

"What's he running from?" Vivli asked, sounding nervous.

"We don't know." Zinkata explained. "But we figured it was a convenient way to get where we're going. I'm sure we can handle anything that gets thrown at us."

"I can't." Vivli whimpered, before crying again. Zinkata put his arm around her rather awkwardly. It meant she could cry against his shoulder. She wouldn't admit it, but it was certainly comforting. Zinkata noticed Bootus going to make a comment so he shot him an angry glance. A glance that said 'make jokes later, but not now'. Bootus read it correctly and smiled in acknowledgement, turning away.

'Later' soon came, when Vivli had curled up and fallen to sleep from exhaustion against a sack of food.

"So, what was the hugging about?" Bootus asked.

"Oh, come on." Zinkata rolled his eyes. "It's nothing romantic. She needed comforting."

"Like a child?" Bootus said, mocking Vivli even when she wasn't there.

"Pretty much. Seemed to work." Zinkata nodded. Voldos entered the cargo hold that had conveniently became their sleeping quarters.

"I gave the captain our map, so we should be underway." The elvaan explained, sitting down. "How's Vivli?"

"She keeps whimpering in her sleep." Bootus told him. "It's driving me nuts." They paused for a moment, and heard one of the whimpers Bootus was talking about.

"Stop acting like you don't care." Voldos told the galka. "We all know you're as concerned as we are."

"Well, what can we do?" Bootus asked.

"We could teach her to fight. That we can manage. Get her a sword and-" Voldos's suggestion was interrupted by Zinkata.  
"Do you really think teaching her to fight with a bladed weapon is a good idea?" He asked.

"Urm. No. Point taken." The elvaan responded.

"Bootus. You could teach her some of your moves." Zinkata suggested.

"My monk techniques are based off my own physical strength. Vivli isn't exactly the strongest person in the world. She'd be useless." Bootus explained. He was tempted to add 'not that she isn't useless anyway', but decided against it. They heard a quiet sobbing from Vivli, who was crying into the food sack.

"Don't worry, Li," Voldos said as kindly as he could manage, "I'm sure we'll sort it out. It's nothing to be so upset about." The mithra didn't reply, making him wonder if she even heard him.

The journey by ship took over a week. This time passed in a fairly dull way. Vivli was learning to cope with her inability to cast, but becoming more frustrated at the leering remarks of Olose's crew, since she was the only female on board the ship. Bootus had indeed tried to teach her some fighting moves, but she was uninterested and far too weak physically to match Bootus's fighting style anyway (which generally involved hitting things very hard). To top things off, she had become violently sea sick, which all in all meant she was having a horrible trip.

One particular time she was on deck, throwing up over the edge. Others had begun to make jokes that she was wasting the ship's food supplies by just throwing them straight back up again. She felt faint and weak as she often found herself feeling after being sick, and so wasn't certain what she saw on the horizon was correct at first. She repositioned herself, looking out. The ship and been rocking harder and more frequently lately, making her feel even worse. She could see the explanation. Dark rain clouds had formed, and rain was beginning to thrash down. Thunder and lightning clashed across the sky. And a twister was tearing across the sea right towards them.

"Storm!" Yelled Olose. "Bolt down the hatches! Secure the cargo! Lower the sails!" He noticed Vivli on deck. "Get below decks! Now!" Vivli ran silently down below. The ship lurched violently. Olose stared at the coming twister, the wind blowing the small single sailed ship wildly out of control. He wrestled for control, but realised this was futile. Something smashed against the deck of the ship. A creature was climbing on board, presumably to get away from the havoc being caused by the wind in the water. Olose fought for control, but a loud sound of wood breaking informed him that his rudder had just been ripped off. He ran below decks, now completely unable to control the ship. There was a crash from above the decks. The entire crew were huddled in the hold.

"There's something out there. Looks like a Sea Monk." Olose informed them.

"We can handle that!" Zinkata cried.

"It's stormy out there. Watch it." Olose warned.

"Come on, let's go." Zinkata gestured for the door. The four went to leave. Zinkata turned to Vivli. "Urm, Viv, I don't want to sound rude but-"

"I'm coming." Vivli interrupted him before he could point out she would be entirely useless. "I'm part of this party. I'm not cowering and sitting out."

"Vivli!" Bootus snapped, sounding very serious. "This isn't a game! This is dangerous!"

"I know." She whimpered. She was obviously scared.

"Stay." Zinkata ordered her. "I will not let you risk dieing!"

"Fine." She sat down, clearly upset, and frightened at the noises above. The three heroes charged out on deck before they could feel too guilty about being so rude to the mithra.

Voldos charged onto deck, slipped on the wet floor, and fell into the monster. It picked him up in a tentacle and threw him across deck.

"Stylish!" Zinkata cried. The monster thrashing about looked like a giant octopus, a little smaller than a Sea Horror, and luckily, no where near as nasty. It dove at Voldos with all of its tentacles flailing. Voldos cut them back. Zinkata stabbed it from behind before it swept around, knocking him off his feet. Bootus charged it, and hammered it with his fists. A gigantic wave crashed over the deck, sweeping them all away. The creature wrapped its tentacles around the ship's mast, tearing it down.

In the hold, a loud crash made Vivli jump to her feet.

"That's it!" She snapped. "I'm going to help them." Before she could move, Olose restrained her.

"You can't!" Olose told her. "It's too dangerous. They wouldn't want you to!"  
"Let go of me!" She squirmed, being restrained by both arms.

"Sorry. I can't let you die." Olose informed her.

"Glad to see you have confidence in me." She grumbled, giving up the struggle. She paused, waiting until Olose was slightly off guard, and slapped him around the head with her tail. This distracted the captain enough for her to break free and bolt out the door onto the deck. She smiled at her own ingenuity. Too many people forgot mithra had tails.

The Sea Monk lunged at Voldos, who dove out the way of it. It crashed down beside him, and turned to face him, driving him towards the bow of the ship. His sword had been washed away, and the others were sprawled behind him.

"Right." He sighed. "Hand to hand with a sea monk. I can handle that."

"Voldos!" Screamed a voice. "Catch hold of this!" The old pulley mechanism (that somehow had not collapsed) was swung about to Voldos. He grabbed hold of the end of the rope, and Vivli pulled on the other end. She struggled with his weight, but Bootus and Zinkata quickly came up behind and the three hauled Voldos away from the creature.

"What are you doing here?" Snapped Voldos.

"Saving you." Vivli shot back.

"Any plans on taking it out?" Zinkata asked as another wave crashed over them. "We've lost our weapons, and can't hurt it." The Sea Monk began to crawl towards them.

"Let's use the pulley and swing it into the water!" Vivli suggested, smiling at her bright idea. A gigantic wave crashed over the deck, smashing apart the pulley and sweeping the adventurers across the boat. The Sea Monk almost capsized the ship as it grappled to stay on. Vivli looked up, completely soaked in water. "Okay, let's not do that." Voldos unclipped the top of his armour, and Zinkata did the same.

"Let's use the fallen mast!" The elvaan suggested. "We'll knock it off that way."

The four picked up the mast, just managing to lift it. They swung it around like a club, and the Sea Monk tangled itself on to it. They ran, and jumped off the ship, pulling the Sea Monk with them. They all crashed into the sea, and burst onto the surface.

"Oh, yeah!" Bootus cried above the storm. "Great plan!" He became aware of Vivli splashing about and making a gurgling noise. He grabbed her and supported her, holding onto the ship's mast to support himself. The other two swam to it. They watched as the _Lightning_ disappeared into the storm. The Sea Monk had vanished to the depths, but they were all too aware it was around.

Vivli coughed up water. She had passed out quite some time ago in the freezing ocean. She was now sprawled on a golden beach, with a bright blue sky and the hot sun beating down on her. She got up, slowly. Her robe was soaked. She made sure to note this was the second time this had happened.

She wondered down the beach cautiously. Nobody was around. A rustling from a bush alerted her that somebody was near. She stumbled backwards in fear, to only see Bootus emerge.

"Oh, good. You're alright." He muttered. She coughed a little. She was feeling drowsy, and choked on salt water, so desperate for a drink.

"Just about." She managed to say.

"The others are around. We made it here. You didn't last quite that long." Something irritated Vivli about how Bootus said that as a casual fact. Of course, he was right, she hadn't lasted that long, but she was fed up with being treated like a little girl who couldn't take care of herself. "I saved your life you know. You would have drowned, but I held on to you. You owe me one." He beamed a smile.  
"_Or _I could call it even for the time I saved you after you tried to kill me!" She pointed out.

"Urm, yeah. Let's do that." Bootus grumbled.

Zinkata and Voldos walked over to the two.

"Hey, you're awake." Zinkata pointed out. Vivli took a moment to look over herself and make sure this was true. "You alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Where are we?" She asked the obvious question.

"I don't know." Zinkata replied. "But, that's where the good news comes in."

"There's good news?" Vivli seemed sceptical.

"Sure." Zinkata said reassuringly. "Just before the storm, I was talking to the captain. We were apparently approaching the set of islands."

"So?" Vivli asked. "That's what happens when you sail towards islands."

"You're starting to sound like Bootus." Zinkata warned.

"I've just been half drowned and woken up on a beach. I deserve to be grouchy." She pointed out.

"Well, since those islands you wanted us to go to are alone, with no other land for miles, if we washed up anywhere, it must be on one. There are plenty of caves around. We just haven't started to explore them yet. We were waiting for you." Zinkata smiled, waiting for them to move.

They trod through the thick jungle, with all kinds of bugs hissing and making noises at them.

"You could try to look less scared you know?" Bootus told Vivli. She had her robe tied around her waist, and a light top on that she normally wore underneath. The others had removed their armour (some on the ship, which was lucky because otherwise they would have sunk in the storm), and wore equally light clothes in the heat. This also gave them a chance to let their heavier clothes dry.

"I don't like bugs." She pointed out.

"You don't like anything!" Bootus cried.

"You've said that." She told him. "Many times." The four arrived at the cave entrance Zinkata had found earlier.

"I don't like the dark, either." Vivli felt it necessary to remind them.

"Right, there's a very slight possibility this cave leads to where we need to go." Zinkata told the others. "Let's go."

"Why is it always caves?" Vivli asked, following them reluctantly into the darkness.

The others moved quickly and soon Vivli couldn't see them ahead. She wanted to cast something to protect her. But she couldn't. She paused, managing to keep enough control not to weep.

"Urm? Guys?" She called. There was a pause. She waited, frightened.

"Get a move on!" Came a voice finally. She ran through the caves as fast as she could, soon catching up.

"Dammit! Don't leave me behind!" She yelled.  
"But it's so funny when you're scared." Bootus laughed.

"Not for me!" She screamed. Her voice echoed. They heard a roar from within.

"Oh, way to go." Bootus sighed.

"Uh oh." Vivli spluttered as the roar got louder.


	22. XXII

**PART XXII**

"_Do you vow to always aid those in danger?"_

"_I do."_

"_And always heal those in need, whoever they may be?"_

"_I do."_

"_Do you vow to never kill, unless it is absolutely necessary for your survival?"_

"_I do."_

"_To never use a bladed weapon, the symbol of death?"_

"_I do."_

"_Then you have accepted the oath. Go forth."_

Vivli nervously crept down the cave behind the others. She was shaking. Another roar alerted her that they were approaching something dangerous. She stopped, too scared to continue.  
"Ur, guys?" She called, trying to excuse this act of cowardice. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"We have to go ahead, don't we?" Zinkata said, turning back to face her.

"We just got beaten up by a Sea Monk!" She reminded them. "How are we meant to face anything else?"

"I'd like to point out we could have taken that Sea Monk easily had we not been in a storm." Zinkata told her, getting nods of agreements from the others.

"This isn't a time to be protecting your masculinity!" Vivli cried.

"You just say that because you have none to protect." Bootus pointed out.

"My point stands!" Vivli yelled. "We don't know what's down there! And we're in no shape to fight it! We're unarmed, I'm powerless-" She paused at remembering this. She struggled to carry on, despite the sickening feeling she had inside, "-and we have no armour." She managed to finish.

"We'll improvise." Zinkata said, not sounding as reassuring as he hoped. "We'll find a way. We always do." Another roar came from the darkness.

"I hope you're right." Vivli whimpered.

"Fine. You stay here. We'll take a look. If it's safe, you can follow." Zinkata suggested. Vivli usually would have protested against this plan, but was sufficiently scared by the darkness to have no complaints. She nodded sheepishly and let the others proceed around the corner.

A few moments later, there was another roar and all three nervously stumbled back.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?" Bootus asked, sounding worried.

"Good." Vivli said without a second thought.

"We're in the right place." Bootus affirmed.

"The bad?" Vivli asked with a worried look on her face.

"We're in the right place." Bootus repeated. Vivli looked confused for a moment before the gigantic head of a dragon sprang around the corner.

Vivli screamed in horror (which, in retrospect, was rather humiliating). The dragon roared.

"Bahamut?" She screamed, in disbelief.

"Fool." The dragon almost laughed. "Do you really assume all dragons are the king?" Vivli looked puzzled. "I am not Bahamut." It stated, sounding almost patronising.

"Then who are you?" Zinkata asked, stepping forwards.

"Just a dragon." The creature said. "The last of my kind. All others have left, or died. Even Bahamut is no more."

"No more?" Vivli gasped.

"He is now bound as a summon. Beyond you mortals, however." There was a certain amount of arrogance in the dragons voice.

"Is there no way we can contact him?" Zinkata asked, sounding worried. The journey had gone well, they had found exactly what they were looking for very quickly. It was a bad time to lose all hope.

"Around my neck," The dragon explained. Zinkata saw a red ruby hanging from the dragon. "With this, a summoner of sufficient power can call forth Bahamut."

"Can we take it?" Zinkata was the only one with the confidence to ask.

"It is yours." The ruby clunked to the ground. Zinkata swept in and picked it up. "If you can pass the trial." The dragon reared back, fire shooting from its nostrils.

"Trial?" Zinkata repeated in confusion.

"RUN!" Screamed Vivli, and the four bolted down the cave as the dragon flung a fireball at them.

"Didn't the legends say this was a trial of courage?" Bootus yelled as they ran.

"We're putting a new spin on things!" Zinkata cried back as another fireball impacted against the edge of the cave. Rocks crumbled. They bolted out into the open air. Bootus turned and started physically dragging Vivli, having successfully predicted that she would be falling behind. The dragon burst out of the cave and into the air.

"Oh. Somehow I thought he'd stop when we escaped the cave." Voldos commented.

"You still got the ruby?" Bootus asked.

"Of course!" Zinkata sounded offended by the suggestion he had lost it.

"Let's head for the coast." Vivli managed to get out while panting. The four were in such a dangerous situation, they didn't debate this question and ran. The dragon unleashed fireballs downwards, slamming into the forest and beginning to burn it apart.

"And it was going so well!" Voldos cried, dodging falling flaming logs.

"Yeah, for a moment there, I thought we got lucky!" Bootus yelled. They burst out onto the beach.

"What now?" Screamed Zinkata. Voldos drew his bow and fired arrows at the dragon. They all missed.

"Nice shooting." Grumbled Bootus.

"It's a fast moving object in the air! Nobody could hit it!" There was a bang and the dragon toppled out of the sky. The four spun around to see a battered ship with a single smoking cannon on its deck. It was the _Lightning._

"Swim for the ship!" Bootus ordered, diving into the water.

"I can't-" Vivli began, before being dragged in by the galka.

Olose threw a rope down, and the four climbed up. In fact, three climbed up, and Bootus pulled Vivli out of the water like a drowned rat. She coughed.

"I hate being pulled around like a rag doll." She muttered.

"You found us?" Zinkata was surprised.

"Of course." Olose replied. "I wouldn't leave you to drown. I figured you'd be fine." Zinkata began to observe the ship. The mast had been replaced with what looked like a tree, with a replacement sail blowing from it. "You saved us all, you know. So now, we're even." There was a roar from the land.

"Deal. Now let's get out of here!" Zinkata cried. Olose ran to the back of the ship, and began to steer it about. The dragon burst out of the forest it had fallen in, and flew towards them.

"We could be in trouble." Vivli muttered, sounding very worried.

"Ready the cannon again!" Olose ordered. As the crew hurried about in preparation to fire, and started to angle it, it became apparent the dragon wasn't attacking. Instead it soared over their heads and flew away.

"What was that about?" Voldos asked, confused.

"Must have got fed up with us." Zinkata guessed.

"Dragons don't just get 'fed up with us'." Bootus pointed out.

"Probably going to tell Chaos knowing our luck." Vivli sighed.

"Well, let's get out of here before it comes back." Olose suggested.

"I'm all for that!" Voldos put in his vote. The ship began to move.

A day passed uneventfully. The journey back was going to be as long as it was out. Zinkata was leaning against the edge of the ship on deck, looking over the ocean. He was pondering many things. What he'd been through. What they were going to do. What Olose was up to, and why he had been so desperate to get away from Norg for a few days. They were all confusing. He was snapped from his thoughts by a scream of agony from below. He bolted into the ship's hold.

Vivli was sprawled on the floor, curled up in pain. He stopped.

"Did you try and cast again?" He asked. She had attempted a few times when she first lost her powers, but she had learnt not to.

"I thought-" She stopped to groan in pain. "I thought that it might have gone. That I might have my ability to cast back."

"Are you alright?" He asked, concerned she may be seriously hurt. She didn't respond but began to cry. "Calm down." He advised. "Look, we'll sort it out. We'll be back on the mainland soon." She continued to cry. He sighed. He decided to try and divert her interest to another subject, so she'd forget about the pain. "Urm, you realise we need to find a powerful summoner to use this ruby, don't you?" Vivli looked up, teary eyes.

"Yes." She replied. "Alexandria is the only one we know. Unless we return to the monastery." She paused, and started crying again. "And I can't go back. Not like this."

"So our only option is to trust her again?" Zinkata seemed rightfully sceptical, but his choice in words were just to get Vivli to continue speaking, instead of dwelling on her problems.

"I can't see how she could betray us. We'd keep an eye on her at all times." Vivli replied.

"We have to find her first." Zinkata reminded Vivli.

"Shouldn't be too hard." Vivli gave in response. "I'd imagine she's near us, either out of guilt or because she's our enemy. I wouldn't be surprised if she's in Norg, either plotting or helping."

"Ideal. She's either waiting for us to kill or waiting for us to help." Zinkata said with a laugh. "Why would she be waiting for us to help?" He suddenly said in confusion.

"I'd imagine she feels she can only redeem herself if she redeems herself in our eyes." Vivli paused. "I'd feel that way."

"Well, at least we have a plan of action." Zinkata said, standing to leave.

"Zin?" Vivli called after him. "Thanks."

The rest of the journey was as eventless as the trip to the islands had been. Vivli became sea sick again, but that was pretty much commonplace and they had become used to it. It wasn't until they hit port back in Norg things really began to kick off. Olose tied the ship up and got ready to say his goodbyes to the heroes.

"Thanks for everything, Olose." Zinkata said kindly.

"That's Captain Sampson." Olose replied with a smile.

"Yeah, whatever." Zinkata laughed. The two walked away. The adventures had paid with what money they had before the trip, and so that was all that was left to be said.

"OLOSE!" Came a cry from the dock. "I know you're there!"

"Aw nuts!" Cried Olose, diving behind the ship's wheel.

"What is it?" Voldos asked, running over.

"Remember how I was running from someone?" Olose began. The adventurers nodded. "It was a pirate Captain. I stole his cargo. I figured if I left port for a few weeks he'd be gone."

"OLOSE!" The voice cried again. Bootus looked to see who it was. He burst out laughing.

"What is it?" Vivli asked, feeling very confused.

"It's Bikke." Bootus replied.

Bikke was fed up with waiting.

"Yar, prepare to attack!" He cried to his cohorts. He had with him a band of about a dozen thugs. They drew their swords, prepared. Something covered by a sheet moved to the edge of the deck above. Zinkata stuck his head over the edge of the ship.

"Hello!" He called.

"Arr!" Bikke screamed in surprise. "It be me traitorous crew!"

"Take a look at this!" He pulled back the sheet, to reveal the cannon. Voldos lit it and fired. It blasted a hole in the deck and sent many of Bikke's thugs running. Zinkata, Voldos and Bootus leapt from the ship and attacked. Bikke drew his sword.

"Ar, this be me more fun!" Bikke spat. "Crew! Bring me their heads!" The pirates rushed the three heroes. Olose leapt from the ship above as well, landing and drawing his sword. He engaged Bikke in combat.

Olose fought Bikke back along the dock, the two duelling closer to the water.

"Yar, you little thief won't survive to be walking me plank!" Bikke cried in what was apparently a threat. He swept at Olose's feet. Olose leapt over this and parried behind his back as Bikke attacked again.

"You'll have to beat me first." Olose reminded the pirate captain, hitting Bikke's sword to the floor and lunging him. Bikke jumped back, and ran in attacking overhead. Olose fought Bikke away, and froze, waiting for his next attack.

Bootus hurled a pirate into the sea. Voldos took one out with his sword. Zinkata knocked a blade away and slammed one of the thugs in the face. The others charged in at the three. Something swung down on a rope from above, knocking them over like skittles. Vivli fell off the rope and rolled to the floor.

"Wow, you get a lot of momentum on those things." She muttered, staggering to her feet. The pirates rose with angry grumbles.

"Vivli, all you did was piss them off!" Bootus pointed out.

"Well, I don't have a weapon!" Vivli reminded the galka.

"Neither do I!" Bootus screamed. Voldos and Zinkata had picked up swords from the ship, but they had no weapons for a monk.

"But you don't use weapons!" Vivli protested.

"Not my fault!" Bootus cried back.

"Shut up!" Voldos snapped. "We have more important issues." The pirates rushed them, and the heroes fought them back.

Olose beat back Bikke, but Bikke kicked him to the chest. Olose fell down, dodging a lunge from the pirate. He flung himself onto his feet, and fought as wildly as he could to beat Bikke away and get control back in the fight. Eventually, he just ran, and leapt over a crate, turning around to have put enough distance between himself and Bikke to prepare for another battle. Bikke ran at him, and Olose swung past him. Bikke drove Olose back, leaving him parrying wildly. Olose dropped down, letting Bikke lunge over him. A swift kick to the back meant that Bikke stumbled forwards. Olose rose up, and lowered his weapon.

"Yar, you be surrending?" Bikke asked.

"No. But if you're wise, you will." Olose taunted. Bikke spun around. He saw three adventurers stood, waiting. He looked down a bit and realised it was four. The four of them had their arms crossed, and beamed a smile.

"Aw, curses." Sighed Bikke.

Bikke was thrown into Olose's brig, until he could decide a punishment. It turned out Olose had hijacked a great deal of equipment from Bikke's ship, including weapons and armour, which he allowed the heroes to make use of in anyway they saw fit due to their assistance.

"See ya." Came the goodbye. "If you need to go anywhere, do anything or find anything out, I'm your man."

"We'll remember that offer." Vivli said, smiling. "We're bound to need you at some point in the future."

"It was a pleasure. I'd be happy to help you at any time." Olose told her. They waved, and parted ways.

The four wondered back to the tavern. They were weary from travelling and wanted to get some sleep. Vivli especially looked forward to a night on dry land, with as little throwing up as possible. Of course, recently, she had been recovering from her depression, and so the rats bothered her again. This meant she barely slept at all, until physical exhaustion overloaded her body and she dropped into sleep.

She woke up early, and wondered up into the tavern from the basement. Her body ached from the tiredness, but she was happy to be up before everybody else. There were multiple people sat around, and she felt very uneasy as most of the males again stared at her, as if checking her out. She hurried over and sat down at a table alone.

"You're not gonna stay there by yourself beautiful, are you?" A voice asked. She sighed, looking up at a male human. He looked very rough, for lack of a better description.

"I-" She began, without a suitable way of getting rid of him.

"She's with me." A voice said. Vivli looked over to a robed figure, recognising it straight away. The man grumbled and wondered off.

"Thanks Alex." Vivli smiled. "I was hoping you'd show up."

"I feel safe talking to you." Alex explained. "I was hoping to catch you alone."

"What? Because you think I'm the only one who'll trust you?" Vivli sounded slightly surprised. "I felt more betrayed than anyone by you!"

"No, I feel safe talking to you because, unlike the others, you have the combat ability of a three year old and so don't scare me in the slightest." Alex smiled at her own joke. Vivli seemed slightly offended.

"We need your help Alex." Vivli said bluntly, trying to avoid the offence she felt at Alex's comment.

"If you're willing to trust me, I owe you everything I can." Alex told the mithra.

"We need you to summon Bahamut, King of the Dragons, for us." Vivli explained. Alex laughed a little. "We have a ruby you can summon him with."

"Vivli, to earn a summon, you don't need an item. You need to defeat him in combat." Alex told the ex-white mage. "If I summon him without having defeated him, I can't vouch for what will happen. He'll probably destroy us all."

"We'll do what we have to. The fate of the world hangs in the balance." Vivli paused. "Or maybe I was wrong to think I could trust you."

"No. No. I'll do it if it'll help." Alex reassured. "But I'm not convinced it's a good idea. Bahamut could destroy us all."

"We'll give you time to escape. It'll be us he'll be interested in. We're after the information." Vivli explained.

"Okay." Alex was nervous, feeling that the plan the little mithra had was ridiculous. "I'll do it." She decided she had no other choice.

"Thanks Alex." Vivli smiled. "If you do this for us, with no tricks, know this. I'll forgive you." A loud thundering could be heard coming up the steps.

"What's going on?" Bootus cried. "Hey! Li! You found her!" Bootus stormed over. "Things have been extremely convenient for us lately." He pointed out.

"They have." Vivli muttered. "I assume it's fate guiding us, just like fate guided the Light Warriors."

"I hope you're right." Bootus mumbled.

"What else could it be?" Vivli shrugged.

"Dumb luck?" Bootus suggested. "You give off that 'dumb' kind of vibe."

"Shut up!" Vivli cried.

"Seriously though," Bootus warned, "If it's not fate, it's something else."

"What?" Vivli asked.

"Chaos." This sent a chill right down Vivli's spine (and up her tail).


	23. XXIII

**PART XXIII**

"_So, you ever wonder why so much ends in conflict?"_

"_Not really. I just punch things for a living."_

"_But, why do we always end up fighting?"_

"_Not a clue. Seems like it's our nature."_

"_Exactly! Our nature!"_

"_I don't get it."_

"_Think about it. Everything in the world ends up in battle. Why is it so difficult to solve it with words?"_

"_Give an example."_

"_The Shadow Lord and the Crystal War. Why couldn't we just solve it through words?"_

"_Because the Shadow Lord was evil!"_

"_Exactly. Some creatures, some people, are just born evil. Born to create conflict._

"_So, what you're saying is, maybe we're supposed to fight. Perhaps it's our destiny to battle each other, and always be in combat with something?"_

"_Exactly."_

The four had fully gathered in the tavern with Alexandria, and were deep into discussion of how to summon Bahamut. It seemed like it was a ridiculously dangerous idea.

"Like I said," Alex began, "I can'tcontrol him. It would be like summoning a monster. Bahamut will have free will over what he does."

"We're counting on it." Zinkata explained. "We need his assistance from his knowledge, not as an avatar."

"Okay, let's get moving then." Alex stood up, and went to walk out of the tavern.

A sword pierced through her as she got to the door.

"WHAT?" Exclaimed Zinkata. A dark knight stepped through the door. The same dark knight they'd defeated back in Bastok in what seemed a previous life time. Alex was lying on the floor, dying.

"Alex?" Vivli ran to her side.

"Help…" Choked Alex.

"I can't!" Vivli sobbed.

"Please…." Alex coughed blood up from her mouth.

"Alex! No!" Vivli started to cast, and screeched in pain, collapsing.

This screech distracted Zinkata, who turned around to see her fall just as the dark knight rushed him. He blocked each attack coming from the evil warrior, and was kicked back through a table the moment his guard lowered. Voldos ran in and the dark knight parried him away.

"Revenge is awfully sweet." The dark knight taunted. "That dragon came to me, he told me where you were headed, what you were doing. There is nothing you can hide from Chaos. He knows all. He has servants everywhere."

"Why are you serving Chaos?" Bootus asked, deciding to attempt to diffuse the situation through talk. "The path of the dark knight doesn't mean you have to be evil."

"The weapon of the dark knight draws upon evil energies." The dark knight explained. "It was natural I was to serve Chaos."

"Not all dark knights are evil!" Bootus pointed out.

"I guess you got unlucky and ran into one who is!" The dark knight yelled, attacking the galka. Bootus jumped back, picking up a table and swinging it into the evil warrior. The dark knight went down, turning to look up as Voldos drove his sword downwards. The dark knight rolled out of the way, and sprang to his feet. Zinkata attacked from behind, and the dark knight blocked before attacking Voldos. Bootus tacked the knight to the ground. The dark knight drove his sword upwards into the galka. Bootus grabbed the blade, and pulled back, the sword still lodged in his chest. Bootus removed it, and hurled it to the floor, dropping to one knee in pain.

Zinkata and Voldos pointed their swords at the knight, waiting for him to surrender. He hurled a fireball into Voldos, knocking him back. Zinkata lunged, killing the evil warrior.

Bar patrons were beginning to emerge from behind their hiding places; from under tables and behind the bar itself. Zinkata sheathed his sword, and Voldos got up, luckily unhurt. Bootus rose, bleeding, shaking a little. Vivli was sobbing by the now deceased Alexandria.

"I failed!" She cried. "I couldn't save her! I let her die!" Zinkata walked over.

"She was killed by that dark knight and Chaos. You had nothing to do with it." He said softly.

"I failed because I broke my oath! It's all my fault!" Vivli sat there crying, the pain had overridden her body anyway so she was completely unable to move. Zinkata backed away, deciding it was better to leave her to her sorrows.

"What now?" Voldos asked hopelessly.

"I don't like to sound like Vivli," Bootus began, "But I'm in quite a lot of pain and could use healing."

"Vivli doesn't sound like that." Zinkata muttered, confused.

"I meant 'like a coward', but I figured they were the same thing." Bootus said with a painful shrug.

"This really isn't the time to be joking!" Voldos snapped. "Besides, I thought you didn't like being healed."

"I have a large hole in my chest." Bootus stated. "I need it quite urgently." His voice sounded calm, so it was fairly humorous to see.

"I'll go see if I can find help." Zinkata sighed.

He walked outside where a crowd was gathering to see just what had happened.

"Can anybody cast White Magic?" He called. A mithra stepped forwards.

"What's the problem?" She asked. "I have some experience." She seemed to be a pirate, mainly suggested by the eye patch over one eye.

"Just an injury." Zinkata explained. Alexandria was too far gone for any White Magic.

"I'll see what I can do." The pirate mithra offered, stepping into the bar, cautiously avoiding the dead body and sobbing mithra on the floor.

A white light covered Bootus and his wound closed.

"Urm, thanks." He said uneasily.

"That doesn't sound natural coming from you." Voldos mocked, shaking his head.

"Thanks a lot." Zinkata said to the one-eyed mithra. "What's you're name?"

"Angel." Came the response.

"How did a White Mage become a pirate?" Zinkata asked. "If you don't mind my asking."

"I'm not a pirate. Or a White Mage." Angel replied with a laugh.

"Then what's with the eye patch?" Zinkata had felt it was a logical assumption that if someone in Norg wore an eye patch, they were a pirate.

"There are other ways of losing your eye." Angel replied, almost painfully. "And I'm a Red Mage. Well, more recently I've been training to be a summoner." Voldos and Zinkata exchanged a glance.

"That's convenient." The ex-thief muttered.

Vivli had finally got control of herself, got up and walked away sadly from Alex's corpse. The authorities (or what pass for authorities in Norg) had come to take her away. She slumped at the bar, head on the bar itself, crying.

"What's wrong with her?" Angel asked.

"Long story." Zinkata sighed. "Basically, she lost her ability to cast magic."

"I could teach her the ways of the Red Mage." Angel suggested. "I learnt from a close friend. Even went to the magic school in Bastok for a while."

"No good." Zinkata replied, shaking his head. "She learnt from the monastery in Windurst. She has an enchantment on her that stops her casting." There was quite a long pause. Angel didn't know what else to say and Zinkata was looking for a way of diplomatically suggesting his idea.

"Hey! Angel!" Bootus was luckily on hand to throw all diplomacy out of the window. "You're a summoner! You can summon Bahamut for us!" This was the first Angel had heard of this, so she was a little confused.

"What? No." She laughed. "Bahamut is a legend. No mortal can summon him." Bootus went to speak again, but Zinkata leapt in before he could.

"Urm, we need to summon him. We have this ruby we obtained from the last survivor of Bahamut's race." Zinkata pulled out the ruby. "He can be summoned through it. We need a summoner to do it for us. That girl who was murdered was the first choice." He paused. "So you can see how dangerous it is."

"You are aware if I summon Bahamut I won't be in control of him?" Angel asked.

"YES!" The three heroes shouted in response.

"We've been through that." Zinkata explained.

"Why do you want to call forth an uncontrollable beast?" Angel asked, quite confused.

"To ask him for directions." Voldos interjected. Angel looked very confused.

"What?" She said in disbelief.

"It's a very long story, but the fate of the world could depend on it." Zinkata told her. "I can't ask you to do it. You've done enough, healing Bootus, but-"

"I'll do it." Angel made her decision. "If it will help you, I'll do whatever I can."

Vivli was stood over a small makeshift grave.

"I'm sorry Alex." She said to the ground. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't save you. I got you killed" She let a tear run down her face. "I promise to you, I vow upon your grave, Chaos will pay. We will destroy Chaos. We have to. For you and everybody else. We will end the destruction he's caused." She let herself break down into tears. Zinkata walked up behind her.

"Angel is ready." He said as softly as he could, as to not disturb her.

"Do you know what upsets me the most?" Vivli sobbed. "That I told her if she summoned Bahamut, I'd forgive her. Forgiveness isn't something you should have to get in exchange. It's something that should be given when you know the person is sorry for their actions. But I used it like blackmail. And in my heart, I know she had changed. But I never told her. Now she'll never know."

"It wasn't your fault Viv." Zinkata told her. "That dark knight would have killed whoever we recruited." There was a long pause. "Come on. We have to join Angel. We have to see Bahamut." Vivli nodded tearfully.

"Alex?" She asked to the ground. "I forgive you." She turned and walked away, following Zinkata.

Angel stood in an open stretch of ground. She clutched the ruby in her hand. She had an intense look of concentration on her face. The ruby began to glow. Summoning runes appeared around Angel. She held up the ruby and blast of red energy burst into the sky. She felt her whole body weaken as it drew upon her to open a great portal in the sky. A great blue dragon burst out of it, circled in the air, and slammed into the ground, knocking the assembled five adventurers off their feet.

"What do you require of me?" Boomed Bahamut, King of the Dragons.

"We wish to know the location of the last crystal shard." Yelled Zinkata, over the roaring of the portal above as it snapped shut.

"Ah. You are to replace the Light Warriors." Bahamut nodded. Angel was a little confused by this. She hadn't been told the whole story due to lack of time. "The test of courage is what you must pass."

"What do you wish of us?" Zinkata asked.

"Defeat me in combat to earn my obedience." Bahamut roared.

"If that's what it requires." Zinkata sounded nervous.

"The four of you." Bahamut commanded. "Summoner! This is not your battle!"

"I called you forth!" Angel cried. "You can't shut me out!"

"This is a test for the Light Warriors alone." A gigantic fiery wall snapped up around the four heroes, blocking Angel out from them. "You must not interfere."

"No! I won't watch! I can't just watch them fight!" Angel screamed.

"You have no choice." Bahamut turned back to the assembled four. "Are you prepared." Voldos took a step forwards. He had an idea.

"Bahamut!" He called. "This battle is unfair. We are not at our full strength."

"Oh?" Bahamut laughed. "And just what should your full strength be?"

"Our White Mage cannot cast." Voldos explained.

"That is not my concern." Bahamut remarked.

"What test is it if you do not battle us at our full strength?" Voldos asked in what seemed like a taunt.

"Very well!" Snapped Bahamut. A bright white light rushed into Vivli, knocking her off her feet. "Her ability to cast magic has been restored. Consider it a preliminary gift if you are truly the Light Warriors. If you are not, then I shall kill you and reclaim the gift anyway." Vivli mouthed an overjoyed 'thank you' to Voldos. "Now, let us see if you can pass the test."

Bahamut blasted a gigantic fireball down at the four. They scattered. Rocks flew everywhere from the impact of the blast.

"Right!" Vivli cried, sounding much more confident now her powers had been returned. "Bahamut will attempt to make time to charge up for his Mega Flare attack. Whatever you do, don't let him use it!"

"Opening fire!" Voldos cried, and arrows hurtled at the dragon. Bahamut caught them in the air, and hurled them to the ground.

"Pathetic." The King of the Dragons laughed. "Is this the best you can offer?"

"Zinkata! Bootus!" Voldos ordered. "Take him up close! I'll distract him!" Voldos unleashed more arrows, soaring through the air at the dragon king. Bahamut let them bounce off his mighty hide with a laugh. Bootus picked up Zinkata and threw him in the air. Zinkata slammed into the dragon, driving his sword into the beast. Bahamut let out an astonished cry and slammed Zinkata into the floor. The dragon lowered himself to the ground for another attack. Bootus ran in, slamming his powerful fists into the beast. Bahamut stabbed forwards with his tail, catching Bootus in the chest. A white light engulfed his body, and he was fully healed. Vivli smiled, feeling more powerful than ever.

Angel watched in disbelief as the battle raged. She'd of given anything to have helped. But had been forced to the sidelines. Bahamut grabbed Voldos in his foot, and hurled the elf into the flaming wall. Voldos dropped down, rolling about in pain. Angel tried to heal him, but the spell bounced off of the magical wall. She cursed.

Vivli managed to heal Voldos before casting Dia on Bahamut.

"Ha. Such pathetic spells do not affect me." He blasted a fireball at Vivli, and it hit with full force, rocketing her across the arena. She collapsed in pain, groaning.

"NO!" Angel cried, completely unable to assist as she watched the party being beaten to death. "Get up!" She cried, helpless to do anything else. "Fight!"

Vivli rose up, healing herself. Bahamut flew back into the air, cocking his head back.

"TAKE COVER!" Vivli screamed. A beam of light began to grow in Bahamut's mouth. Vivli quickly cast shell to absorb as much damage as it could.

Angel saw what was coming, and luckily Bahamut had flown back, just over the wall. She cast shell just in front of the mighty dragon. She knew the attack would be too powerful to stop, but hoped that the double shell would make it survivable for the warriors within.

"Fear the power of Mega Flare!" Bahamut announced, unleashing a bright white light. It rocketed through two green shields and slammed into the ground, blowing apart the land. Vivli was flung back, and collapsed unconscious. The stronger warriors had survived, however. They turned to face Bahamut, bleeding and beaten, as he lowered himself. The mighty dragon was exhausted from the energy he had just used up in the attack. Voldos and Zinkata charged the dragon while he was recovering. Zinkata slashed it across the chest, Voldos on the arm. Bootus ran in, throwing Voldos upwards, where he managed to land a definite blow across Bahamut's head. The dragon reared back into the air.

"Impressive!" He bellowed. "You have passed your test. You have proved worthy." The fire shield dropped, and Angel rushed to Vivli's side, healing her. Vivli got up wearingly. "Interesting that the only true Light Warrior is the one who was defeated."

"Shut up!" Vivli cried. A wittier response would have been something about how it was interesting the king of the dragons lost to some fairly inexperienced adventures, but her head hurt too much to think like that.

"You may keep your gifts." Bahamut told them. "And I shall answer your question." He paused. "The Prince of San D'Oria will guide you to the next shard." With that, Bahamut flew upwards and soared into a gigantic portal in the sky. It snapped shut and he was gone. Vivli bent down and picked up the red ruby.

"We went through all this for that?" Bootus exclaimed.

"Suppose if we ever need him again, we use this." She said, pocketing it.

"Thanks for the help Angel." Zinkata turned, bowing to the mithra.

"Don't mention it." Angel replied. "I was happy to witness such a thing. It really confirms my summoning powers are growing."

Time had passed, and the five were gathered in a tavern.

"So, that was Bahamut." Angel seemed a little disappointed.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Zinkata asked, confused.

"Well, he's supposed to be the most powerful summon in existence, yet he lost to you." Angel explained.

"Oh thanks!" Vivli said in mock offense.

"I doubt he was trying to kill us. He probably wants us to succeed as much as the next person." Zinkata told her. "Although I wish he could have stayed as a normal summon for you." Angel laughed.  
"I don't think anybody could handle that power. Bahamut seems like someone to go to for advice, not somebody to fight your battles for you." Angel was only guessing, but it seemed logical.

"We've got to get moving to San D'Oria." Zinkata explained. "Why don't you come with us? You could help us a lot." Angel paused, as if remembering something painful.

"No. I can't." She paused again. "I won't until I can take care of myself. I don't want to risk anybody for me ever again." The others decided it was best not to probe her on this comment.

"We're a team!" Zinkata exclaimed. "We all help each other, no matter what might be thrown at us."

"I can't. Believe me when I say that." Angel sounded slightly agitated. "Besides, I'm here to acquire a summon." She added, trying to sound more light hearted.

"Well," Vivli sighed, "Thank you. You may have just helped save the world." Angel laughed.

"It was my pleasure." Angel replied. "Just being able to experience summoning Bahamut, to see that power, it was incredible." She seemed in awe. "I was beginning to doubt if I could do this. Become a summoner. Tame every avatar. Now I have no doubt."

"Well, thank you anyway." Smiled Zinkata, rising. "We've got a long trip to San D'Oria."

"Hope to see you again." Vivli said with a wave.

"Goodbye." Angel smiled as they turned and left.

It was a long trip to San D'Oria, and they had plenty to think about on the way. Recently, everything had been going right for them. For a moment, it felt that they really could save the world. Then Alexandria died. It hadn't been planned. They never saw it coming. She was just struck down as if by random. It served as a chilling reminder of the ever present danger. And running into Angel and Olose, both people with their own problems, backgrounds and future. It reminded them that there were real people out there. Real people who would never get the chance to even exist if they didn't stop Chaos.

Vivli was the one who had the most trouble thinking about this. It was Alex's death that really bothered her. Even if they saved the world, it wouldn't bring her back. She was gone. Like Fiorel. How many more had to die? She didn't want to think about it. How long was it before Bootus, Zinkata or Voldos died? Or even herself? She felt that same chill down her spine and up her tail. She didn't think she could bare any more death. She was lost to these thoughts as they left to head towards San D'Oria and the next step in their journey.


	24. XXIV

**PART XXIV**

"_Come on, Voldos, there's going to be a speech."  
"Do I get to see the Princes?"_

"_Might have to go up on my shoulders, but you should do."_

"_Yay!"_

"_Hey, show some control. There are kids from Bastok here as well. We don't want to appear too excitable in front of them."_

"_Awww."_

"_Come on, show some pride. You're an Elvaan!"_

The ride back to San D'Oria was a long one. From Jeuno, the party managed to get chocobos and ride them to Mhaura. Voldos decided to make some observations along the way.

"You know, our trip to Norg really highlighted for me some things." He began.

"Like why not to be a pirate?" Bootus inquired.

"No, I was talking about people. How everybody else has their own story. Like Olose. I'll never know why he was a captain, why he stole from Bikke, how that all fits into his life story. Or Angel. I'll never know how she lost her eye. Or why she doesn't speak like a normal mithra." He pointed out some examples.

"Contrary to popular belief, we don't all sound like we have no control over the pronunciation of the letter 'r'." Vivli pointed out.

"Yeah, but you only talk normally because you were forced to by the monastery." Bootus pointed out. "I know you make the conscious effort to sound normal."

"That is a lie!" Vivli announced, sounding offended.

"Oh, come on. I know you have to try." Bootus seemed smug.

"Care to explain?" Vivli asked, keeping careful control of her voice.

"You talk in your sleep." He answered proudly. "And when you do, you speak like any other mithra."

"That's not trrrrrue!" Vivli cried, losing control for a moment.

"HA! See?" Bootus cried.

"Shut up!" Vivli snapped. "I don't make fun of your speech!"

"That's because it's normal!" Bootus pointed out.

"That's entirely beside the point!" Vivli countered. "Besides, speaking with elongated 'r's _is _normal for a mithra." Zinkata sighed.

"What was your original point, Voldos?" He asked wearingly.

"Well, what I meant was, how it really reflects on us as adventurers." He tried to explain. "Everybody has their own story. Everybody has their own adventure. Our quest seems really major, but in the long run of things, perhaps it's just another quest in a sea of thousands."

"Most quests don't involve saving the world from destruction in the past by a million year old evil." Bootus pointed out.

"Yeah," Vivli agreed, "I think we have every right to be special." There was a long pause. "Oh, sorry, I mean 'everrrrry rrrrrright'." She smiled at Bootus.

Most of the journey was filled with such meaningless discussion. It wasn't until they were safely on the ship bound for Seblina that their conversation was steered to more immediate issues.

"So, how are we going to get an audience with the Prince?" Zinkata asked.

"Urm." Voldos muttered. "This may sound like a silly question, but which one?"

"What?" Vivli quickly asked.

"Which Prince?" Voldos explained. "There are two." There was a long pause.

"We forgot to ask." Sighed Zinkata painfully.

"Oh! I'm willing to make a bet!" Cried Vivli.

"Isn't betting against the White Mage Code?" Bootus asked.

"But this isn't a real bet. It's a certainty." She paused. "I bet we go to the wrong Prince first."

"Does sound like our luck." Admitted Zinkata.

"Okay, Viv, you're on." Bootus said with a smile.

"Ten gil?" Suggested the mithra.

"Ten gil? What kind of wuss are you?" Vivli went to answer, but had no witty remarks to say. "I say five hundred."

"Five hundred?" Vivli exclaimed in shock.

"Hey, I thought it wasn't a bet, but a certainty." Taunted Bootus.

"Oh no," She warned. "You're not goading me into this!" She turned and marched away to the edge of the ship.

"That was entertaining." Bootus said with glee.

"Doesn't solve our problem though." Zinkata pointed out. "Guess we'll just have to ask them both."

"Yeah, because that's _so _much more effort." Bootus sighed sarcastically.

"Do you know how to get an audience with an elvaan Prince?" Voldos cried. "Well? Do you?"

"Yeah. I figured I'd just walk in, say hello, and ask him about the crystal shards." Bootus explained. Voldos sighed heavily.

"No wonder you Bastokians are hated so much." He grumbled.

A fairly young elvaan woman with tight black hair and expensive looking armour wondered over and joined the three heroes (Vivli was still staring out across the ocean).

"I couldn't help but overhear." She began. "I might be able to help."

"Ideal." Zinkata replied. "We're good at leeching off others." He added under his breath.

"My name's Nenia." She told the three. Vivli wondered back over to join them, interested in what was going on, but found herself blocked out. They had formed a tight circle and she was left trying to jump over Zinkata's shoulder to see what was happening. "I'm just coming back from a mission to Windurst for the San D'Orian authorities. They sent me and my party there to help secure relationships or something." She shook her head. "Nobody really knows what's going on with the four nations these days."

"Tell me about it." Bootus grumbled.

"My point is, we've been running a mission for the Prince. He should be happy enough to allow you audience if we ask him." She explained.

"Excellent!" Zinkata cried. "Thank you."

Some introductions later and the heroes were familiar with Nenia's friends. There was a male hume who seemed to live inside a helmet named Catara and a blonde female tarutaru known as Leine.

"So, whaty-taty brings you on this quest?" Leine asked.

"And you say mithra have problems with how they speak." Vivli grumbled to Bootus under her breath.

"It's a long story." Zinkata said quickly, so that they couldn't dwell on Vivli's comment (had they overheard). "Involves crystal shards, the fate of the universe, the usual stuff." He liked how casually he played that off.

"Oh." Catara muttered. "That makes our quest seem a bit low key."

"Yeah, we ended up battling some big black dragon to help out Windurst. It was bothering their local population or something." Nenia explained.

"Shadow dragon?" Vivli wondered if Chaos's influence was spreading. "That doesn't sound good."

"It's fine." Nenia explained with a smile. "We took care of it."

"You were unconscious!" Leine pointed out.

"Only because I got trampled saving you." Nenia replied.  
"See? This is what I meant about everything else having a story." Voldos pointed out.

"I'm worried." Vivli muttered. "If they fought a shadow dragon, then they are becoming a greater threat."

"Oh, don't worry-torry." Leine explained. "They've all gone now. All converged on the Temple of Uggalepih for some reason. I hear adventurers were getting sent out to investigate why, but none came backy-wacky."

"That doesn't sound good at all." Vivli grumbled.

"Relax." Bootus advised her. "It's just a security measure to make sure nobody stops Chaos going back in time and destroying Vana'diel before it even exists."

"Wow." Vivli muttered. "I feel so reassured."

"So, what exactly are you guys up to?" Nenia asked. The seven adventurers were now casually walking across the dunes. The ship had docked some time ago.

"Long story." Zinkata said.

"Good one though." Vivli interjected, beaming a smile. "Involves ancient demons, long lost crystals, evil dragons and time travel."

"You've certainly cheered up." Voldos observed.

"I can cast again!" She cried. "Of course I have!"

"You lost your ability to cast?" Leine asked, sounding surprised.

"It's, urm, a long story." Vivli muttered, a little sad.

"We have plenty of them!" Nenia cried. "Like this time Catara got knocked unconscious by a rampaging chocobo."

"Oh, come on!" Catara cried. "That is exaggerated! I was merely knocked over!"

"They remind me of us." Voldos grumbled.

"Great, isn't it!" Vivli beamed.

"It's not a good thing." The elvaan muttered.

San D'Oria loomed on the horizon in the way it had a habit of doing. Conversation had died down, and Vivli was feeling a little down herself for being so cheerful mere days after the death of Alexandria. The others were beginning to feel their own strict purpose in coming back to the mighty elvaan city. There was a buzz of excitement from the other party, Leine, Catara and Nenia were all looking forward to receiving their rewards. This was lost on the four heroes however. They were much more nervous.

This feeling continued as they sat outside the Prince's chambers. The door swung open, and the three adventurers they had teamed up with walked out.

"He wants to see you." Catara told them. "Urgently it seems."

"Okay." Zinkata replied quite blankly. "Thanks for everything."

"Don't mention it." Catara said with a smile.

"See ya around." Voldos told them as a goodbye.

"Goodbye!" Cried Leine as the three walked off through the Chateau of San D'Oria. The four heroes nervously entered the Prince's chamber.

A long silver haired man in regal looking clothes awaited them.

"What's his name?" Zinkata whispered to Voldos.

"What? How should I know?" Voldos replied.

"This is your kingdom." Zinkata hissed. "How can you not know?"

"Very easily!" Voldos said a little too loudly. The Prince rose a single eyebrow.

"I hear you want an acquaintance regarding the Temple of Uggalepih and crystal shards?" The Prince offered.

"Urm, yes, your highness." Vivli spoke first this time, wanting to use up her new found confidence she had got after the restoration of her powers. "The Demon Lord Chaos has returned. We believe he's planning to use the Temple of Uggalepih to go back in time and destroy Vana'diel before it existed."

"Yes. I have heard the rumours." The Prince told the young mithra. "I've also been told, through message from Windurst, that you are a Light Warrior. That you are immune to the powers of Chaos."

"Not exactly immune. Just immune to his shadow magic." Vivli explained.

"We are seeking the remaining four shards of the crystals." Zinkata stepped forwards, taking his turn to explain things. "With them, we can completely resist Chaos's power and defeat him."

"Convenient." Smiled the Prince. "I know where you can acquire one."  
"Ha! I win the bet! First Prince we saw!" Cried Bootus. "You owe me 500 gil Viv!"

"What?" Vivli exclaimed. "We never made that bet!"

"Oh, you can try and lie your way out of it if you want." Bootus said smugly.

"What do you mean 'lie'? You're the one that-" She quickly let her training take control, and let herself calm down. "I apologise, your highness." The Prince looked a little amused. He never saw adventurers behaving this way before him.

"It is perfectly alright, believe me." The Prince said with a laugh. "If you seek the final crystal shard, there is a problem."

"I am in shock and awe." Bootus said flatly.

"This is no time for sarcasm!" Snapped Vivli.  
"There's always time for sarcasm!" Bootus returned.

"I read very recently rumours of a strange blue gem being found far beneath the castles in the ancient dungeons." He began to explain. "Only I and a few selected guards know of this."

"So that's why Bahamut sent us to you." Zinkata remarked.

"Indeed." The Prince gave in response, not actually having a clue to what they were talking about. "The ancient dungeons are in fact sealed off below our own dungeons, and have only be visited by one guard who fell into there when the floor of our own dungeons collapsed for unspecified reasons."

"Why can't the crystal shards ever be anywhere light?" Vivli moaned. The Prince gave a puzzled look.

"She's scared of the dark." Whispered Bootus. The Prince let out a small and arrogant laugh.

"Well, you will have to get over that fear." He assured her. "The hole in the ground of our dungeons still exists, it is yet to have been repaired." He paused. "I warn you however, the ancient dungeons are home to a hoard of undead beasts that will happily slay you."

"I can't say I'm surprised." Bootus admitted.

The four headed towards the dungeon. It was at this point they noticed Voldos had been completely silent during their meeting with the Prince.

"Way to embarrass me in front of the future ruler of my kingdom!" Was all Voldos needed to say to explain this.

They soon stood assembled over the broken away hole in the ground of San D'Oria's mighty dungeon.

"Convenient this hole being here." Zinkata remarked.

"Not really." Bootus remarked. "Bahamut sent us here. It's all part of his plan. He probably made the hole!" The galka paused. "It makes our life easier, though."

"That's easy for you to say!" Shrieked Vivli. "You're not scared of the dark!"

"Get in there you wuss!" Bootus pushed Vivli, allowing her to let out a loud scream followed by a thud.

"OW!" She cried from below. "That's one huge drop!" She started to cast cure on herself (which she felt great being able to do again). The pain (which was largely located in her elbow and ankle) vanished, and she stood up, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. She saw something move. Something coming towards her. A ghoul. An undead skeletal beast. "AH! HELP!" She screamed. The others quickly jumped down, letting out equally loud grunts as they landed. Vivli dashed behind Bootus for cover.

"Cast magic you moron!" Bootus advised her. "The undead are weak to your White Magic like you're weak to everything else."

"That was uncalled for!" Snapped Vivli, casting banish and knocking the ghoul back. Zinkata ran in, swinging his sword. He missed. The darkness made it hard to fight. Voldos ran in with his sword, knowing it was futile to fire arrows in the inky blackness. Bootus soon charged ahead also, leaving Vivli stood on her own.

She could hear the sounds of battle, but fear rooted her to the spot where she stood. Soon, silence drifted throughout the darkness. Vivli trembled as she saw a skull emerge from the darkness. She stumbled back, falling over with a scream of terror.

Then she realised it was Bootus carrying the skull of the ghoul.

"THAT WAS NOT FUNNY!" She yelled as loud as she could. Bootus almost fell over with laughter. Vivli gasped for air. Zinkata gave her a hand up.

"That was pretty funny Viv." He said with a laugh. Vivli crossed her arms and stared at the floor.

"Not for me." She moaned miserably.

"I get a distinct sense of déjà vu." Bootus began. "It's almost as if these events have happened before." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. "It can mean only one thing! Vivli is unbelievably gullible!"

"Shut up!" She cried. "You're always picking on me!"

"You make it so easy!" Bootus gave in response.

"Well, I was going to cast protect on you, but now I'll just do it for the three of us." She said with a smile.

"Doesn't the code say you have to help everyone you can?" Bootus asked smugly.

"That only applies to healing wounds." Vivli shot back. Bootus grumbled something under his breath. Vivli didn't catch it, but was sure it wasn't good.

The four crept down the tunnel carefully. Vivli made sure she was nestled safely between the adventurers.

"Any idea how we're going to get back?" She suddenly asked as it crossed her mind.

"Nope." Zinkata replied confidently. The three continued on their way, saying nothing else. Vivli paused in confusion before running after them.

A blue light shimmered before them.

"The crystal!" Gasped Bootus.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious." Vivli said in a jab. It began to advance on them, taking the ghostly form of an Elvaan. "That's not the crystal!" She added in a shriek.

"Now who's pointing out the obvious!" Bootus grumbled.

"Attack!" Cried Voldos.

He dove at the ghost, and fell straight through it, slamming to the ground. He got up slowly.

"Violence. Such a primitive reaction. Yet it is your initial one." The ghost said in a deep and spooky voice. "Let us see how your violence fairs." Voldos stumbled up, suddenly becoming very aware of many ghouls advancing on their position. The heroes fell back to back, looking out at the advancing skeletons.

"Way to go, Voldos." Bootus muttered.

"Okay," Zinkata began, "Let's keep cool." He drew his sword. "We'll handle these things."

"Easy for you to say!" Vivli whimpered.

"Then we'll deal with our ghostly friend here." Zinkata paused. "With or without violence."

The nearest ghoul swung its scyth. The heroes jumped back. Vivli fell backwards, and was grabbed by one of the bony creatures. She felt herself being dragged off by it, and her feeble struggles couldn't get her free.

"HELP!" She screamed. "HEEELP!" The others ran for her, but were pounced by the ghouls. They fought fiercely as she was dragged away.

The three heroes were surrounded by undead monsters, with no mage support, no way of healing themselves, and lost beneath the deep dungeons of San D'Oria. They knew they were in for one hell of a battle.


	25. XXV

**PART XXV**

"_As you can see, I am more powerful now than I ever was! You cannot stand against me! Ah, protect. Very well. I shall resort to new attacks."_

"_Fine then. Shell!"_

"_You are beginning to irritate me, mage." _

"_S-s-stay back!" _

"_Or what? You'll heal me?"_

"_That's it! Vivli! Heal him!" _

Zinkata deeply wished Vivli had been able to stay with them. He was beating back ghouls from all around him, and would have given anything for her white magic.

"Great!" Bootus cried. "The one time we actually need her and she's not here!" The gigantic galka punched a ghoul back and slammed it into the ground.

"I think we should run." Voldos suggested, looking at the skeletons closing in around them.

"Agreed!" Zinkata cried. "We don't stand a chance." The three bolted into the darkened tunnel.

Vivli had passed through all the stages she usually went through. There had been blind panic, struggling, fear, cowardice, denial, and now she was on much more familiar ground: complaining. She had given up trying to break out of the ghoul's grip, and was just being carried down the dark corridor.  
"You know, you could have been more original." She said to the silent ghoul. "I mean, really, at what point did you think 'oh, the female White Mage, I bet nobody's kidnapped _her _before?'." She paused, as if expecting an answer. "I mean, why didn't you kidnap the muscle bound galka? At least that would have been original. And it's not just a stereotype, but it's even happened to me multiple times! If I was to write an autobiography of my life, it would get criticised for being too repetitive!" There was another pause. The ghoul remained silent. "Well, at least you're holding me by the shoulders. Sure, I can't move, but it beats being dragged by the tail." Vivli thought she was being quite humorous, so she was a bit upset nobody was around to hear. She decided to see if she could focus enough for a spell. She failed. The ghoul suddenly stopped, and threw her into a large stone room. She landed with a painful thud.

"I think we lost them!" Voldos cried. The three stopped, looking back, gasping for air. They began to see the skeletons emerging from the darkness. "I thought wrong!" Voldos admitted. Zinkata and Voldos started hurtling arrows into the blackness, and they could hear the crunch of arrows on bone. It sounded like a ghoul or two fell.

"Keep moving!" Bootus yelled. "We can't take them all. Gain ground then take them down with arrows!" It sounded odd for Bootus to be giving serious commands, but the heroes obeyed and retreated.

The ghoul slammed a rusty barred door across the room Vivli had been hurled in. She ran to it, but couldn't open it. She suddenly had an idea.  
"Oh, well done." She said to the ghoul. "You've cut me off from you. You can't hurt me now, but I can cast spells on you. Prep-" She suddenly felt pain sear through her body. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screeched, dropping down. She knew it as drain. One of the few spells the ghouls called upon. "Okay! Okay!" She screamed from the floor. "I get the idea!" The ghoul turned and walked away. "Hey! Don't leave me!" She cried after it. "You can't just turn around! That's not fair!" She stumbled away from the bars, alone in the darkness. She shivered. Her annoyance had faded and she had nothing left to complain about (or, at least, anyone to complain _too_). Fear crept back over her. She was alone, in the dark, in a cold room. "Hello?" She called nervously. A blue light began to appear in front of her. The ghostly spirit of the long dead elvaan. She screamed.

The three stopped again, hurling more arrows at the attacking hoard.

"I think they're weakening!" Zinkata cried.

"ATTACK!" Voldos made a split decision, and ran at the ghouls. The others followed. The sound of clashing swords and scyths flooded down the stony corridors. It was so loud they totally missed Vivli's scream echoing far away. Voldos managed to cut down the leading ghoul, but Zinkata and Bootus had a harder time, being knocked to the floor and finding themselves with scythes tearing down at them.

Vivli huddled into a tiny ball as the ghost floated through the bars.

"Do not be afraid, child." The ghost advised.

"Easy for you to say." She whimpered.

"I have no desire to harm you." It explained.

"Why have you brought me here?" She asked, shaking.

"I heard your complaints upon being kidnapped." The ghost told the petrified mithra.

"I was just-" She tried to justify herself, but was cut off.

"You are kidnapped not because of profession or gender, but because of your soul. The soul of a Light Warrior." The floating ghost explained. "I am the spirit of the dungeon keeper of this place." Vivli shook, not able to give a response. "My spirit was returned to this world when the crystal shard ended up in my dungeon. I became its guardian. I had to protect it, and only allow the true Light Warriors to acquire it."

"Then give it to me." Vivli said without thinking. "Ur, p-p-please?" She quickly added, shaking.

"I know you are a Light Warrior. I can see your soul." The ghost told her. "But the others. They are cloudy. So I set them a challenge. To rescue you. If they can do it, if they battle through every monster to save a friend, I will know they are worthy."

"So I just serve as a test?" Vivli asked.

"Yes." The ghost replied.

"So why am I in this horrible dungeon?" She pondered, walking up to the bars.

"To await the results." The ghost explained.

"Wait. What happens if they don't come for me?" She quickly asked.

"Then you wait here, until somebody does." The ghost told her. Vivli's eyes widened.

The last ghoul dropped to the floor. A bloodied Zinkata looked over to Voldos and Bootus.

"Thanks for the save, Voldos." He sighed.  
"Hey, we elvaans can handle anything." He smiled. "Especially on our home turf."

"We need to find Vivli!" Bootus announced. He noticed the others staring at him. "What? We need her to save the world. Not like I _want _to save her."

"Sure you don't." Sighed Zinkata. "Could use her though, a few cure spells would be nice right now." He put his hand to his cut shoulder.

"Well, she must be around somewhere." Voldos said with a shrug.

"Obviously." Bootus groaned. "Probably tied up somewhere. She usually is."

"Well, let's get looking." Voldos decided, heading down the passageway. Zinkata and Bootus exchanged a glance, and hurried after him.

"You can't leave me here!" Vivli protested.

"How else do you recommend I find the true Light Warriors?" The ghost asked.

"Urm, I don't know." Vivli muttered. "There must be a better way!"

"If you are such a destined hero, surely you can escape on your own?" The ghost inquired.

"I'm not a hero!" Protested Vivli. "Just a mage with a stupid destiny!"

"Whatever you are, you must wait." The ghost told her. She ran to the bars, trying to get out, but it was useless. She let out a slight sob. She was continuously finding herself in bad situations. Luckily, she had confidence in the others. She was certain they would come.

"Come on guys, let's go." Bootus moaned. "We're not going to find her."

"What happened to that 'we have to save her' attitude from a few minutes ago?" Zinkata asked.

"I got bored." Bootus commented.

"Come on, she has to be around here somewhere!" Voldos snapped. "Where's the main dungeons?"

"I don't know. You're the elf." Bootus replied.  
"_Elvaan._" Voldos corrected. "And that doesn't mean I know what the dungeons underneath the castle of my kingdom are like."

"Oh, and I do?" Bootus asked.

"Shut up, both of you!" Zinkata snapped. "If Vivli getting kidnapped ever had one advantage, it's that we argue less."

"I see compelling evidence that you're wrong." Voldos gently commented. Something echoed down the corridor. A female voice.

"It's her!" Exclaimed Zinkata.

Vivli's throat was sore, but she had no intention of shutting up.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" She screamed. "I'M DOWN HERE!"

"Would you please stop that?" The ghost asked.

"No." Vivli said stubbornly. "If I can't get out of here, I'm doing everything I can to draw somebody else to here." She took in a breath. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP! I'M HERE!"

"SHUT UP!" The ghost exploded into a gigantic fiery image and Vivli jumped in fear, throwing herself against the wall of the room.

"T-t-there's no need to shout." She stumbled in a bizarre moment of confusion and fear.

"I will not have you interfering with my test!" Snapped the ghost.

"What about us?" Zinkata asked. The ghost spun around.

The three adventurers stood with their weapons in their hands.

"Impressive. You have come this far." The ghost told them. "You have the courage of the Light Warriors. But, do you have the skill?" The ghost exploded through the wall, shattering it. The three ran to follow it.

"HEY!" Vivli screamed. "Get me out of here!" Bootus turned around, grabbing the rusted bars, and ripped them off.

"See?" Bootus taunted. "If you weren't so scrawny you wouldn't have this problem."

"Not my fault I wasn't born a galka!" Vivli protested, slipping out the bars.

"Well, diddums." Bootus grumbled.

"Besides, I'd sacrifice muscle for brains anyway." She called as the four heroes ran through the newly blasted hole in the wall. "And there are plenty of strong mithra huntresses need I remind you?"

"Can we leave the argument for later? We're in danger here!" Zinkata cried.

"We're always in danger!" Vivli pointed out.

"Let's just deal with the immediate problem!" Zinkata yelled. The four found that they had run into a massive room. Ancient torture devices filled it. In the centre floated the ghost. Its blue glow had become orange, and it had grown dramatically in size.

"You have passed the first step." The now dramatically deepened voice said. "But I am unable to believe you shall pass the second." He began to grow in size. "If you four truly are the Light Warriors of this generation, then prove it. Slay me. Set me free from my duty to protect the crystal." His fist slammed down, and the four parted. It turned solid as it hit and shattered the ground. "Prove you are worthy of your destiny!"

"Why are we always proving ourselves?" Bootus sighed. Voldos unleashed arrows, and they flew directly through the ghost. It laughed.

"You're pathetic violence will not solve your problems here." It taunted, slamming its fist down again and sending Voldos flying. "I am too powerful for simple brute force to harm me."

One by one, the heroes turned to look at Vivli.  
"Well, you're the expect on a lack of brute force." Bootus said with a smirk. "What do you suggest?"

"Duck!" Vivli cried as a ghostly hand swept over their heads. It smashed into an old rusted chair and sent it flying across the room. The ghost reared back, and hurtled ghostly green fireballs down at the four. They split, running for cover. Vivli started to cast Shellra.

"Can't you hit it with magic?" Zinkata asked as a green shell enveloped him. "Aren't the undead weak against that?"

"I can't cast it on him because he doesn't exist." Vivli explained. "It's like he's not there. The magic wouldn't do anything."

"Suggestions?" Asked Bootus, before he was picked up by the mighty hand. Vivli suddenly had an idea.

"Shoot at Bootus!" Vivli screamed to Voldos.

"This is no time for your petty hatred!" The elvaan cried in response.  
"No! Shoot at the hand! While it's solid!" The little mithra advised. Voldos obeyed, and the ghost let out a deep cry, releasing the galka. It pulled its hand back.

"Ow." Grumbled Bootus.

"It solidifies when it tried to hit us!" Vivli explained. "That's when we can attack!" The hand slammed down in front of them, and they jumped back. Zinkata stabbed it with his sword before it could pull back. The ghost let out another cry, and hurled a green fire ball at the warrior. Zinkata was blasted back.

"Curaga!" Vivli cried, and the entire party was covered with white light, fully healed.

"When did you learn that?" Zinkata asked, surprised.

"I've known it for ages!" Vivli yelled in response, turning to run as the ghost moved towards her. "Just never had an opportunity to use it."

"Looks like you pissed the creature off!" Bootus cried. It swept down, picking up Vivli and began to crush her. She screamed in pain.

"HELP!" She cried.

"Oh! I want to! I want to!" Bootus snatched the bow and arrow off of Voldos and fired.

"OW!" Exclaimed Vivli as the arrow skimmed by her arm. Zinkata sighed and shot the hand, freeing Vivli. She dropped down, landing with a yelp.

More green fireballs flew down at the adventurers. Vivli cast a spell, healing herself, while the others dodged. The ghost pulled itself back, and soared down at them, knocking them all over. It turned in an orange blur, and prepared to repeat.

"It's too fast!" Cried Voldos as he was hit over again, along with the others.

"How can we hit it?" Zinkata asked as it zoomed back in.

"Stay down!" Bootus commanded, and the creature soared over them, turning in the air with a growl.

"I can't heal us if it keeps this up!" Vivli yelled. "It's killing us!"

"Jump!" Bootus yelled as it flew down low. Vivli didn't make it due to her lack of height, and was slammed back. Zinkata stayed on the floor, watching. Voldos and Bootus landed on its back. They managed to hit it quite severely before it became transparent again, and they fell through it. Vivli got up painfully, and once again healed the crew.

"Why won't you just die!" Bellowed the monstrous ghost.

"You wanted to see if we're the real Light Warriors!" Vivli yelled. "I guess you're finding out!" The ghost roared a deep and hideous scream at the mithra. She fell over backwards, stumbling back in fear.

"You are pathetic!" The ghost picked her up and hurled her across the room, and she slammed down painfully.

"Viv!" Cried Zinkata, running to her side. She was badly hurt.

"Just me and you, Voldos." Bootus said to the elf.

"Hardly fair on the ghost." Voldos joked. The creature turned its hand into a sharp long blade, and jabbed at the elvaan. He jumped back, and Bootus hurled his fist into the sharpened sword. This didn't cut the galka, but hurt the ghost. Voldos brought his sword down and cut off the appendage. The ghost, now one armed, reeled back with a cry. Zinkata ran to join the others.

"Viv?" Asked Voldos.

"She's hurt, but'll be okay." Zinkata answered. "She's struggling to cast a spell in her beaten state." The ghost's entire head became solidified, and its jaw opened wide as it snapped in at them, attempting to bite them. The heroes pounded it in the face with their own blades. It bit into Bootus's leg, picked him up, and hurled him away like a dog would a piece of meat. The galka crashed down. A white light from the corner of the room told the party Vivli had managed to heal herself, and she ran to the galka's aid.

Bootus climbed back up with a grumble.  
"No thank you?" Vivli said sarcastically. Zinkata flew over their heads and slammed down. Vivli sighed and quickly got to healing the ex-thief. Bootus charged the face of the ghost. Vivli stopped casting in horror. The ghost had become the floating bloodied head of an elvaan, still biting and snapping. Voldos kept stabbing it. She regained her concentration and began to cast.

Bootus leapt through the air. He landed, striking the ghost. Voldos lunged the creature, hitting it right in the forehead. It roared backwards, and with a below, exploded into blue and orange light. Zinkata ran over to join them, ready to fight.

"Hey, where'd it go?" He asked.

A blue crystal shard dropped down to the ground where it had been. Bootus bent down and picked it up.

"Wow. So he really was protecting the shard." The galka commented.

"What was that?" Voldos asked.  
"Could it have been-" Vivli began, but didn't finish.

"The spirit of a Light Warrior?" Zinkata did it for her. "No. It can't have been." He shook his head.

"Whatever it was, it's gone now." Bootus sighed. "We have the final shard. Let's get out of here."

"Where are we going?" Vivli asked.

"Windurst." Zinkata decided. "One final meeting with the High Priestess. I want to know everything she does. Not to mention, if we're going to break into the Temple of Uggalepih, we're going to need some help. Nenia and her friends said it was the gathering point of shadow dragons. That means we're going to need an army if we're going to get in there."

"An army?" Vivli repeated, a little dazed. "Where are we going to get an army?"

"Why do you think I want to go to Windurst?" Asked Zinkata.

The four walked down the dark corridor, heading for their destiny. The final battle was getting closer.


	26. XXVI

**PART XXVI**

"_Hey Viv, don't you ever want to leave?"_

"_What? Leave here?"_

"_Yeah. We spend forever here."_

"_I'm not allowed. Won't even let me go into the city on my own!"_

"_Ha. Guess you're not responsible enough."_

"_They never actually said why."_

"_The point is, do you want to?"_

"_What? Go out there? On my own? No way!"_

"_See. That's why you're different. The rest of us have spent our entire lives wanting to leave."_

"_But it's safe here."_

The monastery certainly didn't look safe. The outer wall had collapsed. The roof itself had been badly damaged. Vivli leapt from her chocobo and ran over, staring at the destruction. The others rushed to her side. Vivli burst into tears.

"What happened?" Cried Zinkata.

"Chaos attacked the monastery!" Exclaimed Voldos. Bootus looked at the blackened marks on the stone walls.

"That. There." He said pointing to the burns. "This was the work of those shadow dragons."

"They must have attacked the monastery to stop us." Zinkata gasped.

"They're dead!" Vivli sobbed. "And it's my fault!" Zinkata put an arm around her.

"It's nobody's fault. Except Chaos." He paused. "He knew we had to return here."

"You're back!" A voice announced from behind. The four spun around to find themselves facing the High Priestess.

"You're alive!" Vivli screamed in joy.

"Many of us are." She reassured the mithra. "We managed to repel the assault, but not without sustaining heavy damage." She paused painfully. "And quite a few loses." Vivli fell silent, surveying the devastation. "This assault is the first Chaos has launched on us, but it won't be the last. He's doing everything he can to stop you."

"It will be the last!" Zinkata snapped. "We'll stop him!"

"And how do you plan to do that?" Asked the Priestess. She observed the crystal shards, one hanging from each of the heroes necks. "I see you have the crystal shards, but even then, Chaos is a demon of incredible power within a fortress of a temple."

"We need help." Zinkata admitted. "We need to launch a full scale attack on the Temple of Uggalepih. Enough to allow us to break the lines."

"I suspected as much." The Priestess told the warrior. "The monastery has been deserted. I have invited the leaders of all great nations here. We shall use the monastery as our headquarters to plan an attack on the temple." She paused once more. "You are our only hope. The battle outside will be a diversion. It cannot be won unless Chaos is destroyed. He will continue to regenerate the shadow dragons."

"The dragons are just there to stop us." Vivli pointed out. "He actually wants to head to the past. Once he's done that, this world won't exist to fight over."

"Then we have to move quickly." The Priestess decided.

The atmosphere within the ruined monastery, now converted into a war room, was incredible. The King of San D'Oria himself, and his two Princes, had come. The President of Bastok stood within. The Star Sybil herself, flanked by the Windurst government, were sat in high chairs. The general of the mithran mercenary armies of Windurst was present. The Arch Duke himself, and his aids, waited patiently. The High Priestess stood before them.

"Our land is facing a situation more dire than any it has faced before." She began.

"That's a load of rubbish!" Snapped the Bastokian President. "We've fought off the Shadow Lord, we can handle this Chaos creature."

"Chaos is no ordinary creature." The Priestess explained. "He is a demon from a million years past. He has the magical ability to kill anything but the four warriors you see stood before you." She pointed to the warriors. Zinkata and Voldos bowed. Vivli nervously waved. Bootus did nothing.

"Why those four?" Demanded the King of San D'Oria.

"One carries the original soul of a Light Warrior." She told the ruler. "And the others formed a party to protect her. Little did they realise it, but it was her that motivated them on their quest."

"Then you are saying-" The Arch Duke began.

"Yes." The Priestess confirmed. "These four are the new Light Warriors."

"Putting our faith in four adventurers?" The President laughed. "And you want me to risk my armies for it?"

"We may not have a choice." One of the San D'Orian princes spoke up.

"If we do not move soon, Chaos will use the power of the reconstructed Temple of the Fiends to go back in time and make sure this world never existed in the first place." The Priestess told the President angrily. "He will destroy Gaia, and without Gaia Vana'diel will never come to be. These four are our only hope." There was a pause of consideration.

"Windurst will pledge its armies." The Star Sybil confirmed.

"San D'Oria will fight to save this land." The King decided.

"I will not have Bastok being overshadowed by these other kingdoms!" Snapped the President. "My armies will be present."

"And Jeuno?" The Priestess inquired.

"Jeuno has long been a peaceful bystander." The Arch Duke explained. "However, if we do not stop Chaos, there will be no peace to preserve. Jeuno will assist."

"Excellent." The High Priestess announced. "Then the four great nations once again march as one!"

"Exciting, isn't it?" Bootus commented to Voldos. Voldos pretended not to hear him.

The four heroes now sat in a room full with military strategists. An elvaan general, who had been given control of the united army of Vana'diel stood before the them.

"The battle will not be easy." He explained, pointing to a board displaying a map. "We cannot outflank them. They will attack from the air. We cannot pin them down or stop them in any way due to their ability to simply escape into the sky. The elvaan and mithran armies shall attack from the West, and the hume and galkan armies will attack from the East. This shall give us a combination of agile fighters and strong warriors on both fronts. The tarutaru mages shall attack with spells before the main attack, awaiting to recharge their magic skills before rejoining the fray. We will stop the charge, here and here." He pointed to two spots significantly away from the temple. "Our objective is to lure the dragons, nothing more."

"But sir, they will just bombard and slaughter our troops from the air!" Protested a hume.

"That is where Jeuno comes in." The elvaan general explained. "The Red Wings, our united air force, shall be flying high above. They shall open fire with cannons, blasting the creatures to the ground where we shall engage them." He paused. "Commander Antilles?" He turned to another general.

"Yes sir?" Antilles responded.

"You and your regiment shall be onboard these ships to repel any that may attempt to land on and destroy said vessels." The general explained.

"Yes sir!" Antilles announced.

"Commander Darklighter?" He turned to a large galka. "You and your squad shall be responsible for getting the Light Warriors to the temple."

"I understand." Boomed Darklighter.

"Then prepare to move out!" The general ordered. "And good luck."

It took time to organise the armies, but they were soon in position, staring across at the Temple of Uggalepih. Vivli knew in her heart it was really the Temple of the Fiends. It had that dead look about it. It had once been overrun with tonberries, but they had all been slaughtered. It was covered in what looked like black slime, but was in fact thousands of dragons hoarding around the building.

"I'm scared." Vivli muttered.  
"I hate to say it, but me too." Admitted Voldos.

"Me three." Zinkata confessed.

"You're all cowards." Bootus laughed. The four, along with Darklighter's entire team, were sat upon chocobos.

"We hold back until the battle has began." Darklighter explained. There was a few tense moments of waiting. Then a fireball was unleashed.

The tarutarus had began casting. Fireballs, shards of ice and lightning bolts rained down on the dragons from all angles. The dragons broke away from the temple, soaring towards the two armies at opposing ends of the temple. The Light Warriors were sat to the North, able to watch from far away. Arrows were suddenly unleashed on the dragons from the hoards. A few fell from the sky. The chugging of airships could be heard as the Red Wings flew in overhead, and opened fire.

Dragons fell from the sky. The mages ran back and the armies charged stampeding towards the temple. Every dragon departed, filling the sky with blackness, soaring towards them. The temple was left almost entirely undefended, but instead surrounded by battle.

"Damn." Grunted Darklighter. "We're going to have to cut directly through the hoards." The battle had clearly failed to keep to its assigned sides, and instead surrounded the temple. The armies were panicking, being plucked from the ground and eaten alive. An airship above exploded, bring shards of burning wood down.

"We have to move!" Vivli cried. "Now! They're dieing!"

"It's a war." Darklighter growled. "That's what happens."

"They don't stand a chance!" Gasped Zinkata, watching as the men were plucked away like rag dolls. Cannons were knocking the dragons down, but there were far more than they had expected.

High above the dragons turned to the airships. Antilles had his men unleash arrows before they started to fight them off with swords and spears as they landed to tear the ships apart themselves. Fireballs began to rain down from the air. The regenerated tarutarus started casting reflect and shell spells to stop them and launching attacks of their own. Magical spells flung back and forth between the air and the ground. Dragons fell, airships exploded and many adventurers and warriors were finding their lives cut short.

"Dammit!" Darklighter growled. "You're right! We have to charge!"

"Here goes nothing." Sighed Zinkata.

"ATTACK!" Bellowed the galkan general, and the four heroes and an entire squad of Bastokian warriors charged the hoard.

Vivli clung tightly to her chocobo as it darted through the hoards. Zinkata held his sword in one hand, cutting down anything dragon-like he could get it to. Voldos leant back, firing his bow and staying on the chocobo through the use of his legs and sheer willpower alone. Bootus punched down anything he could get to. The Temple of the Fiends loomed ever closer.

A shadow dragon in the air noticed what appeared to be a small yellow hoard tearing towards the temple. It unleashed a fireball.

The blast slammed down directly next to Voldos.

"Break!" Ordered Darklighter. The squad split in two, presenting more targets for the dragon. Fireballs began to rain down around them, blasting away the people around. A dragon landed nearby, and fired a fireball that exploded next to Vivli. Her chocobo reared back and she was flung off, crashing to the hard ground.

There was another explosion the sky, and an airship began to crash down, ripping through one slightly lower as it fell.

"Damn formation failures!" Darklighter grumbled as the two burning airships slammed down, crushing man and dragon alike.

Vivli got up with a whimper. People were rushing by all around her. She felt like she was so small they couldn't even notice her. Somebody knocked her over, and she fell back down. There was a roar, and she saw a dragon before her. Several mithra warriors charged it, and started stabbing it. It snapped them back. A lightning bolt struck it from a mage. It growled and swept down at Vivli. Something picked her up before it could get her.

"Dammit! Can't leave you alone for a second!" Bootus cried, throwing her on the back of the chocobo. Vivli just shook from fear. The dragon that had nearly killed her was defeated.

More men were plucked from the ground. A galka was thrown across the battle field and slammed down on a tarutaru, crushing her.

"Damn!" Cried the elvaan general. "FALL BACK! ALL UNITS, FALL BACK!" He had seen enough devastation, he knew they were in trouble. They only had to lure the dragons away. The armies began to retreat as the message quickly spread by linkshell.

The surviving ships in the air also got this message.

"Commander Antilles!" The Captain of the airship _Invincible _reported. "We need to retreat."

"I am afraid, it is too late." Antilles told the captain as he watched a dragon unleash a fireball. The _Invincible _exploded.

The four heroes bolted into the entrance to the temple of the fiends, jumping from their chocobos. The battle could still be heard raging outside. They quickly approached an altar with a glowing black orb. Before it stood a purple caped man in blue horned armour.

"Garland!" Cried Zinkata.

"Chaos!" Voldos added in a snarl.

"Light Warriors!" Garland announced, turning to face them. "I am glad you could come."

"This ends now Chaos!" Zinkata yelled.

"Oh no, my dear Zinkata. You are mistaken." Garland explained with a smile upon his face. "This ends a million years in the past. In the dead world Gaia. You cannot stop me."

"We'll give it a damn good shot!" Vivli tried to sound heroic, but it didn't come off very well.

"Please, I could crush you like the bugs you are." Garland taunted. "But I won't. No. I know what you desire."

"The only thing we desire is to see you die!" Voldos yelled.

"Then, the past is where you must go." Garland told the elvaan. "There is no future. Not anymore. It is dieing outside these very walls."

"The battle outside won't last." Bootus told the evil creature.

"You are correct." Garland said with a loud laugh. "Because soon it will never have existed." He spun around to face them, his cape whirling. "I have constructed my own crystal you see. It draws upon the dark energies of the temple." He pointed to the black orb. "Here it just serves as a gateway to the past, but there it shall resurrect the four fiends!"

"The four what?" Bootus asked.

"The four fiends!" Vivli cried. "They drained the power of the original crystals! They were basically killing the land. The original Light Warriors stopped them. If they hadn't, then the world itself would-"

"-die. Yes." Garland finished. "This planet will die as the four fiends leech off it. The years will pass, and the ground shall crumble, the wind shall stop, the seas shall drain and the air will turn stale. There will be nothing left but pathetic people left on a dead land. And when there is nothing natural left, all will die."

"Why?" Voldos asked. "Why kill the land?"

"It is my nature." Garland told the hero. "For when nature fails, people do not know how to behave. Without any way of behaving, they resort to chaos. When chaos reigns, I reign. I am in my element. This world shall have no choice but to follow my will."

"I've had enough of this!" Cried Zinkata, drawing his sword.

The others followed suite, charging at Garland. The demonic creature turned around and disappeared in a black flash. The four skidded to a halt beside the orb.

"Where did he go?" Zinkata cried.

"To the past!" Vivli announced.  
"After him!" Voldos ordered. They could see the world around them crumbling. The ground was rotting from beneath their feet. The air was disappearing. They all slammed their hands against the black orb and vanished.


	27. XXVII

**PART XXVII**

"_Do you believe in fate?"_

"_What? No."_

"_Why not?"_

"_Because I generally like to think I have a bit of control."_

"_I believe in it. I find it comforting."_

"_How so?"_

"_It means your entire life your rocketing towards one moment. One purpose. You have a reason to be."_

"_Ha. No one moment will decide my destiny!"_

Bootus blinked. The four were assembled in a stone corridor. It looked much like the Temple of Uggalepih, but was built from a different stone, and was worn differently. Different inscriptions were on the walls also.

"Welcome to the past." The galka stated in awe.

"It's cold." Vivli shivered.

"I don't think that's determined by the time period, Li." Zinkata guessed.

"So, ready to save the world?" Voldos asked.

"Hell no." Bootus replied.

"We operate better that way." Zinkata sighed. "Let's move!"

Before the four could move they noticed eyes watching them from the darkness. A gigantic single eyed demon with a huge claw like mouth, an evil looking unicorn and sickish yellow dragon.

"Presumably monsters of the past look really stupid." Bootus commented.

"I forgot to mention," Vivli muttered, "According to the legend, the Temple of the Fiends was crawling with evil monsters."

"Thanks for telling us that!" Bootus cried.

"They aren't attacking." Zinkata observed

"We'll have to be careful." Vivli advised.

"No, you'll have to be careful. We'll just kick ass." The galka smiled.

"Need I remind you we're here to save the entire future?" Vivli said, putting her hands on her hips to try and look like she had authority.

"She's got a point." Zinkata admitted. "Let's go and finish this."

The four sprinted down the stone corridor, dodging the monsters and making it safely to a gigantic stone room. Garland awaited in the centre, still in the form of the dark knight.

"It's over, Chaos!" Zinkata cried.

"Over?" Garland asked. "Over? What is over?"

"You. Your reign. Your plan." The ex-thief told the demon.

"No. All that's over is this pathetic planet." Garland began to float in the air, suspended by some magical force. "This planet was doomed from the moment it came into existence. Everything begins and ends. I'm just the shortcut. Why postpone it? Why wait? Why let your lives continue? What does it matter? In the end, it _will _end. In the end, everything that has happened will be lost. There is no need to live. There is no need for this to continue. I will end it now. I will cut short the process that is inevitable. I will end it here!"

"It is not the end that matters!" Vivli cried, stepping forwards. "It's the middle. Sure, the world will end. But it's the life in the middle. The good of the people that live on it. Every life is precious. So what if in ten million years this world will crumble? Everybody still deserves to live. Everybody still deserves their chance. And we won't let you take that away!"

"You are too late." Garland let out a loud laugh. "My own crystal is returning power to the fiends as we speak. You cannot stop it."

"What?" Zinkata yelled.

"We have to do something!" Voldos cried.

"I might be able to cast dispel of some form on it." Vivli was thinking as she spoke. "I need to get to it!"

"Go!" Zinkata commanded. "We'll hold off Chaos!"

"I'll never make it!" Vivli told him. "Not with the monsters crawling all over this temple."

"Bootus! You're with Vivli!" The warrior ordered. "Voldos, me and you will handle Chaos."

"Sounds easy." Voldos said with wide eyes and a look of fear on his face.

"It will do you no good!" Garland laughed. "You shall all die!"

Vivli and Bootus bolted from the room. Zinkata and Voldos turned back to Garland. The Dark Knight summoned a gigantic silver scimitar.

"So, you are going to be the first to die?" Garland inquired. "Of course, my monsters could have crushed you, but instead I decided to leave that pleasure to myself." The demon paused. "It is a shame they will have to rip that irritating mage and the moronic galka apart instead of me, but I shall live with these small disappointments."

"Shut up and fight!" Zinkata snapped. The two warriors charged at the evil creature. Garland kicked Zinkata back, sending him flying across the room. He easily parried Voldos's attack and blasted back the elvaan. Zinkata rose, and charged at him. Garland took out the ex-thief with a bolt of lightning. Voldos started firing arrows, but they bounced off Garland without effect.

"We could be in trouble." The elf muttered.

The galka and mithra sprinted down the stone corridors. Bootus beat back freakish monsters as Vivli ran.

"In here!" The tiny mithra yelled. The two ran in to see the glowing black orb. Around it floated smaller dull orbs. Blackish crackles of lightning sparked from the main orb to the smaller ones.

"What the hell is that?" Bootus asked in shock.

"As the energy moves from the big orb to the smaller ones the fiends have their souls returned to them!" Vivli explained. "Hold off the monsters! I'll cast whatever I can!" Vivli began to cast something, but it had no effect. "Damn!" She cursed.

"Whatever you're going to do, do it fast!" Bootus advised as cracked another of the strange creatures' skulls.

"I'm thinking!" Yelled Vivli.

Voldos ducked under Garland's blade, and then parried another attack. His sword flew out of his hand. Zinkata ran up behind, and Garland kicked him back. Voldos dove for his sword, coming up and running in. Garland blasted back the elvaan with a fireball, and turned to Zinkata. Zinkata took in a breath, spun his sword, and attacked again. Garland easily blocked the attacks, and head butted the hume, knocking him to the floor. Garland thrust downwards, but missed as Voldos tackled him. The evil creature burst into the air, flying, his cape flying behind him.

"Pathetic!" He boomed. Arrows flew in at him, turning to dust before they reached the demon king.

"Damn!" Voldos cursed.

"Don't give up!" Zinakata told him. "For everything we believe in, we can never give up!"

"Touching." Garland said with a laugh. "But it is inevitable. You _will _lose." He soared down, sending the warriors flying with a blast of electricity.

Vivli screamed in frustration.  
"Nothing works!" She yelled.

"We're running out of time!" Bootus told her. "Look!" One of the smaller orbs began to glow a faint white.

"NO!" She screeched. "I'll think of something! I will!" She paused. "I have an idea!" She ran up to the orb, and put both her hands on it. Her eyes turned to black and she screamed.

"He's too powerful!" Voldos groaned. "Even without his Shadow Magic! We don't stand a chance!"

"Then surrender!" Garland boomed.

"Never!" Voldos snapped. "We'll always fight. No matter what the outcome."

"Then you will die!"

Vivli was absorbed by shadow. She could see Chaos's soul. She could see the spell she cast. She knew how to break it. But she couldn't. She was absorbed by darkness. It was invading her. It was taking her soul! She screamed but no words formed. She tried to speak, but couldn't. She felt a cold wash over her body. She felt something gripping her. Something pulling her away.

Bootus yanked Vivli away from the orb. Her eyes fluttered back to normal.

"What? What happened?" She pondered, slumped in the giant's arms.

"I have no idea!" The galka boomed. "Tell me you found out what you needed to know!" The first orb was glowing brightly now.

"I know." She sighed. "I know his spell. I can counter-act it!" She took a deep breath, and began to cast.

Garland pushed back Voldos again. Zinkata jumped at him and Garland flung him into the elf.

"And now, feel my true power!" Gigantic demonic wings burst from Garland's back, and his metallic horns burst into real ones as they had in the cave all that time ago. His eyes began to glow a ghostly purple. He waved his hand, and bolts of lightning struck down the two warriors.

White light quickly spread across their bodies. The two opened their eyes. Vivli lowered her hand from the spell and Bootus took a fighting stance. The four ran to each other.

"Prepare to die, Chaos!" The galka spat. "You're plan has failed!"

"So, you de-enchanted my crystal?" Chaos sounded impressed. "No matter. I will destroy you and build another one. It is of no concern. You are no closer to winning. I will crush you and destroy the world."

"No!" Voldos yelled.

"We will defeat you!" Vivli cried.

"It ends _here!_" Zinkata screamed.

"Very well." Chaos boomed. "If you are so insistent on battling the inevitable, then so be it. This shall be your final battle!"

Bootus lead the charge at Chaos. The winged knight soared backwards in the air, beating down the galka with gusts of wind. Voldos unleashed arrows, but they seemed to fail to affect the demon king in any way. Vivli was busy casting protect and shell to protect the heroes. Zinkata hurled his sword upwards. It blew apart in a spectacular array of metal shards as Chaos fired a lightning bolt at it.

"Here!" Voldos threw Zinkata his sword. "I'll distract him!"

"Distract me?" Chaos roared. "You overestimate yourself!" Chaos waved a hand, and Voldos found himself encased in ice. The shards blew apart, and the elf dropped down.

"VOLDOS!" Vivli screamed, running to his side. Chaos blasted Vivli back with lightning. The little mithra got up painfully. Zinkata drove his sword at Chaos. This distracted the demon lord. Bootus charged, jumping up and grabbing the demon. The two tumbled from the sky. Bootus pounded the beast, and with a massive explosion of power, Chaos flung the galka off, lightning crackling all around the body of the demon king.

"FOOLS!" Chaos boomed. "You cannot defeat me! Witness the full power of that born of the crystals!" The body of Garland twisted and exploded into a gigantic bronze demon, the wings grew to gigantic sizes, the arms were the size of the tree trunks, the claws were like razor blades, the skin was thicker than any armour, the horns were like spears and the eyes glowed with a ghastly purple glow. "I am the Demon Lord Chaos, and I wish death to all who defy me! You will die! First you, and then the pathetic world you fight to save! Gaia is mine! Vana'diel is no more! It shall never exist!"

"CHAOS!" Zinkata bellowed, running forwards. White light shone from him as curaga healed the entire group. "You won't win!"

"We shall see, puny mortals!" Chaos roared, flying in and back fisting Zinkata across the room. His body soared across like a rag doll, smashing into the wall. Voldos's arrows bounced uselessly off the hide of the creature. Vivli ran to Zinkata's side.

Bootus charged at the demon, pounding his fists into the legs and hide of the gigantic monster. Chaos's razor sharp tail was pulled back, and thrust forwards, impaling the galka. He slid it out, leaving the bloodied tail and the wounded Bootus staggering away. Vivli had just finished healing Zinkata, and found herself running towards the badly injured Bootus. Voldos drew a knife from his boot and charged. Chaos grabbed the elf, picking him up.

"Your future is no more!" Chaos cried as he slammed the elvaan down into the ground. "You are all finished!" Voldos crawled out of the crater he was now in, bleeding heavily. Bootus rose, still clutching his newly healed side. Vivli ran towards Voldos, but Chaos intervened, stamping down. Zinkata slashed at Chaos with his sword. Chaos kicked the warrior back, and picked up Vivli by the tail, hurling her across the room. She crashed into Bootus before the mighty galka could launch an attack. Voldos fired an arrow from the ground to no avail. Zinkata and Bootus ran forwards once more.

Chaos swept down to meet them. He knocked Zinkata away and watched as Bootus thrust his fist forwards. Chaos blocked it back, and spun the arm around, snapping the bone. Bootus screamed and was thrown to the floor. Voldos managed to reach his knife, and drove it into the demon's foot. Chaos soared back into the air, giving Vivli enough time to cast another spell healing the party. The four reassembled.

"We can't beat it." Panted Voldos.

"We can't give up!" Groaned Zinkata.

"We won't." Bootus said, determined.

"Everything we've been through, for everyone we've met." Vivli gasped.

"Alex."

"Angel."

"Olose."

"Catara."

"Leine."

"Nenia."

"The lives Chaos has stolen." Vivli muttered.

"Signot." Zinkata grumbled.

"Sensei." Bootus remembered.

"Fiorel." Vivli said, almost crying.

"For all the elvaans, humes, mithra, tarus and galka that died fighting." Voldos stated.

"We won't lose." Zinkata decided.

"We can't." Voldos agreed.

"For Vana'diel." Bootus said.

"And for Gaia." Vivli pointed out.

"ATTACK!" Zinkata screamed.

The four, weapons drawn, charged at Chaos. The demon took Voldos out with a blast of lightning. Zinkata leapt through the air, driving his sword into the creature's chest. Chaos swatted him away like a fly. Bootus grappled with the demon, but was flung into the ground. Vivli did her best to cast offensive spells, but Chaos just smiled as banish failed to have any impact.

"Are you quite done?" Chaos inquired. "It is time you witnessed the truth of my power!" Chaos flew backwards into the air. "I believe you are already familiar with this spell." Fire began to form around Chaos's demonic form. "NUKE!"

The entire room exploded into heat. The four Light Warriors felt it spread across them, burn them, drain their life energy. They watched as the crystals glowed and their lives flashed before their eyes. Everything they had been through. Everything they had been through together.

"_Everybody in on this mission then?" _

"_I was trained as a White Mage within a monastery. I was risen shielded from the outside. All the other mages were allowed to leave. But not me. They said it was too dangerous. They never said why. And then, one day, somebody showed up at the camp with a message. That day they told me to leave."_

"_It takes a special kind of person to help somebody who had betrayed them."_

"_Urm. Thanks. Guys." _

"_A few years back, an expedition unveiled an interesting artefact. They took it back to Bastok. The crown of Uggalepih."_

"_After seeing that Sea Horror. I have no doubt it was coming for Vivli."_

"_I'll have you know amongst the tarutaru population back in Windurst I was considered quite tall!" _

"_You cannot get away from me. I will kill these fools and then you."_

"_We're going to die, aren't we?"_

"_You're going nowhere. It's too dangerous. Especially right now."_

"_That's enough, Signot!" _

"_Chaos? As in the bad guy from the legend?"_

"_See? I knew you liked me really."_

"_Helluva cowardly Light Warrior if she's got his spirit!"_

"_Moodier than usual? I didn't know that was possible."_

"_Tell me, young Vivli, you were a student of magic. Do you know what Uggalepih means in the ancient tongue?"_

"_Once again, I respectfully disagree." _

"_So we go to Bastok and ask for rumours about the crystal positions?" _

"_Does anybody else hear thundering?"_

"_Your friends are beyond your help."_

"_Hey! Stop treating me like a kid!"_

"_I can't do it. I can't cast magic."_

"_Thanks for everything, Olose."_

"_I'm so sorry. I couldn't save you. I got you killed" _

"_Oh, sorry, I mean 'everrrrry rrrrrright'."_

"_Do not be afraid, child."_

"_Putting our faith in four adventurers?" _

"_This shall be your final battle!"_

Vivli opened her eyes. She could hear a voice in her head. The crystal shard was glowing. All the crystal shards were glowing. Chaos's demonic face was twisted in a smile. The shards shattered. Vivli jumped in surprise. A blue light seeped from each shard, and began to buzz around the Light Warriors. They slowly rose to their feet, feeling regenerated. The light shone to Vivli.

"The spirits of the Light Warriors." Gasped Chaos. "No!" Vivli's face took its turn to smile.

"I know." She gasped to herself. "I know what to do! They're lending me their power!"

Vivli took a step forwards, a look of determination on her face. Her robes were ripped, torn and burnt, much like the others armour. The blue glow surrounded her.

"What's she doing?" Bootus whispered. The others remained silent.

"For every force of darkness there is light." She began to speak, and the blue light began to form into a tighter ball. "For every power of evil there is good. For every moment of chaos, there is order." The blue energy settled floating between her hands, glowing as a gigantic ball of energy. "For every one force, there is another to crush it. And so it is, the force of Ultima shall judge you!" She unleashed the blue force, and it shot into the air as a bolt of energy, tearing through Chaos. He yelled in pain. There was a pause. Chaos knew what was coming. Hundreds of blue bolts ripped down from the sky, tearing through his might form. He let out a scream of agony, and crashed to the ground.

Vivli collapsed, and Zinkata rushed to her side, holding her up. Chaos lay sprawled on the ground, his armour twisted and ruined.

"No." He groaned. "The Light Warriors. Their spirit. It was too strong."

"No." Voldos said calmly, approaching the fallen demon, having picked up his sword. "_Our spirit was too strong._" He swung the sword down, and it cut off the demon's head. There was a pause. Chaos began to glow. White light shot out from every crack in his body. The armour began to crack further. Light poured and seeped from every little bit of the gigantic demon's hulk. And it exploded in a gigantic flash of white.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" They heard a voice bellow as everything became white.

"_Is it over?"_

"_I don't know."_

"_Where are we?"_

"_What's happening?"_

"_Wake up!"_

"_What?"_

"_Wake up!"_

Vivli opened her eyes. Bootus was stood over her. He gave her a hand up. She surveyed her surroundings.

"We're home." He told her. She got up and looked around. They were back in present day, at the Temple of Uggalepih.

The four adventurers wearingly wondered out of the temple. Outside the United Army of Vana'diel stood, staring at them. There was silence. Somebody started to clap. One by one the entire army joined in, clapping. Roaring in applause at the four beaten adventurers stood before them. Vana'diel had been saved. They had done it.


	28. XXVIII

**PART XXVIII**

"_Do you ever think it'll be over?"_

"_What?"_

"_You know, fighting, war, that stuff."_

"_Hope not. I'll be out of a job."_

"_You know what I mean. Seriously."_

"_Nah, they'll always be something. Someone."_

"_So what does that mean?  
"Take the Shadow Lord. We beat him down, but that didn't stop violence. Something'll crop up again."  
"Guess you're right."_

These thoughts were as far from Voldos's mind as they could possibly be. He was slumped against the fountain in Bastok. Vivli was sat on it, swinging her legs around.

"So, they give you anything?" Voldos asked. He himself was admiring his shiny silver and blue armour, the best available, presented to him by the four nations.

"Taught me tons of new spells." Vivli said cheerfully. "Got instructed by the best mages in the land!"

"Ha, spells are no match for my sword!" Voldos cried, pulling a long blade off his back. "It's so light, even you could lift it." Vivli didn't laugh. "Here, feel." He went to pass her the sword. She bolted to her feet.

"I'm not touching that thing!" She yelled.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Forgot." Voldos muttered. "So what spells did you learn?"

"Want a demonstration?" She offered.

"Sure. Show me. I'll-" Voldos was cut off.

"But it doesn't make sense!" Bootus boomed to Zinkata as the two walked over. Zinkata also was in shiny new armour, the best available. Bootus even had a new, thick gi, and the very latest in weapon technology for his claws.

"You really have issues with time travel. You know that?" The ex-thief told the mighty galka.

"I don't understand. If we killed Chaos in the past, how did anything he did in the future stay true?" Bootus asked.

"Bootus, you idiot!" Vivli laughed, walking over. "It's really simple."

"Go on then. Explain." Bootus confidently folded his arms.

"We killed Chaos from the future who had gone into the past, as opposed to killing past Chaos before he could reach the future. Because we killed the future Chaos in the past his actions in the future remained true even though he died a million years before said actions occurred because he had already done them." Vivli took in a deep breath, and Bootus looked blank.

"What?" He muttered.

"What?" Voldos muttered.

"What?" Zinkata muttered.

"It makes sense!" Vivli yelled.

"Look." Bootus said. "The way I see it, we killed Chaos in the past. He's dead in the past. We exist in the future. Since he died in the past, nothing that he did in the future could have happened."

"I'm not going to argue this." Vivli replied, her hands on her hips. "I'm not. I know I'm right."

"Ha, the only reason you're backing down is because you know you can't win." Bootus taunted her.

"Voldos?" Vivli asked. "Watch this." She began to cast something. "Silence!"

Bootus moved his mouth, but no words came out. Vivli smiled.

"Wow." Voldos said in awe. "That may be the greatest spell of all time."

"Aren't more important questions things like 'how did we get back to the future'?" Zinkata inquired.

"Presumably when the crystals shattered, the spirits of the Light Warriors helped us forwards." Vivli shrugged.

"Does it really matter?" Voldos asked. Bootus mouthed something, but nobody could hear him.

"No. I guess it doesn't." Vivli decided.

"All that matters is the world is safe. Hell, we did it. We saved the world." Zinkata paused. "Try that line to pick up chicks, Voldos."  
"Lost the crystal shards though." Voldos said sadly. "Without them, we can't prove we're the Light Warriors. Nobody knows any better. All they know is four adventurers saved the world."

"The real shame is that we're back to how everything was." Vivli grumbled.

"Isn't that what we were trying to do?" Zinkata asked.

"Yeah, but I was hoping the four nations would stay united. But as soon as the battle was over, they went straight back to being separated." The tiny mithra looked to the floor.

"Hey, all that matters is that the world is safe. Life will go on, however that happens." Zinkata explained.

"For another nine million years or so at least." Bootus added with a grin. "Not nearly long enough to get all the insults in I want to."

"We've been sat here talking for far too long." Voldos pointed out.

"That's because we have nothing left to do." Zinkata told him. "We're done. Spent. The world is safe and we're heroes. What do you do after saving the world?"

"Go to the tavern?" Suggested the elvaan.

Very little had changed. Zinkata was sat in the corner, playing his old knife game. His excuse was 'saving the world doesn't pay for new equipment', which was a blatant lie anyway. He had literally been rewarded the new equipment.

"200 gil you can't do it for thirty seconds." A stranger said.

"You're on." Zinkata beamed a smile, and started hammering away with his knife. The bartender hated when Zinkata did this game, as it left knife marks all over his table (and occasionally some blood), but had long ago given up on trying to replace the table, because it always ended up in the same state as the one before. He could throw Zinkata out of course, but the gigantic sword on his back discouraged this.

Bootus was sipping his drink. Vivli had her head down on the bar, asleep. She wasn't actually drunk. She hadn't touched a glass. She was just exhausted from the events of the last few weeks and couldn't keep it up anymore. Bootus smiled to himself.

"Hey, Bootus!" Voldos cried. The galka spun around. Voldos had his arm around a cute blonde girl, a hume. Bootus's eyes went wide with shock. "Meet Vixen."

"Whu? You? No. Can't." Bootus couldn't quite form coherent sentences.

"Apparently she really finds tall dark elvaans attractive." Voldos said with a smile. Vixen giggled. Bootus was stunned in disbelief.

"How did you do that? You couldn't pull a girl to save your life!" The galka exclaimed.

"Hey, she came onto me." Voldos said with a smug smile. "Told you no girl could resist me." He kissed her, and the two wondered off, leaving a stunned Bootus to his drink.

Hours passed as they had a habit of doing. Vivli woke and left. She re-entered the tavern with her satchel. Zinkata looked up.

"Why've you got that?" He asked.

"I'm going on a trip." She said. "I've decided."

"Going where?" Zinkata cried, surprised.

"There's still a lot unanswered." Vivli explained. "I mean, about me. How did the monastery know who I really was? Why did I have the crystal shard in the first place? I want to know."

"How do you intend to find out?" Zinkata asked.

"Well, I figure I need to find my parents." Vivli told the ex-thief.

"Any idea where you're going to start?" He asked her.

"I was thinking of looking in Windurst, and then moving on to Kazham if I can't find anything there." Vivli gave in answer.

"Going to Windurst, eh?" Zinkata muttered. Vivli nodded. "Long journey. Couldn't let you go on your own." A smile crept across Vivli's face. "Bootus!" Zinkata boomed. The galka thundered over. "Grab your stuff. We're going on another journey."

"What? Where?" The galka demanded.

"Windurst. Then onwards. We're looking for Viv's parents." He told Bootus.

"So, I can stay here, or go with you?" Bootus pondered his choices. "You honestly expect me to miss more opportunities to mock Vivli? I'm in!"

"I don't think that's the best reason ever." Vivli said to herself. Voldos walked past them with Vixen.

"Hey, guys, I'm going back to my mog house." He gave a wink.

"No you ain't." Bootus pulled the elvaan over by the ear. "We're going to Windurst."

"What?" Voldos exclaimed. "But-? You can't! I-"

"Oh, calm down." Vivli sighed. "She'll still be here when you get back." Voldos looked as if he was going to cry as they dragged him out of the tavern, and he yelled desperate goodbyes and proclamations of love to Vixen.

"How could you do that to me?" He whimpered.

"Settle down." Vivli told him. "We're headed to Windurst, then on to Kazham, most probably. You know Kazham?"

"I've heard of it." Voldos confirmed miserably.  
"It's a small jungle paradise populated by mithra." Vivli felt dirty for saying this, but knew it was the only way to cheer him up. "It's hot there, so nobody wears that much. That means it's a small town populated by hundreds of scantily clad cat girls." Voldos pondered this for a moment.

"Then what are we waiting for?" He asked. "Adventure awaits!"

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, that's it. The end. If you've read this far, there's a lot I need to point out. Firstly, thanks. If you're reading this, then thanks for making it this far. I know it's ridiculously long, so I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read it. If you've made it this far, and not left a review, please do. I figure if you've spent hours reading, what's an extra few minutes to let me know what you think? I'd greatly appreciate it. Although the story itself is finished, if you have any recommendations that I agree with and can do, I will go back and change the story to try and make it better.**

**Right, there are a few obvious thanks I need to say for getting this written. Firstly, you. Yes you. Reading these words. If you're reading this, then thank you for taking such an interest. I'll be even more thankful if you leave a review. Secondly, James Boote. Better known as Bootus. Or Vahlahn, as he's known on this site. He suggested a writing competition, and the FFXI Chronicles are a direct result of that. His story, "Of Fantasies", is also on this site, and currently much shorter. He kept to writing a chapter a week you see. I didn't. Of Fantasies is set _after _the heroes have disbanded, and rejoined, so I suppose you could look on it as a sequel to this if you really want to read more adventurers of the team. (There is also an additional member, but you can just pretend he joined after these adventures). Thirdly, Peter Garraghan (aka: Zinkata) who read through every chapter I wrote and gave me lots of advice and criticism to improve it. Fourthly, The Frog Killer for some of the most dedicated reading and reviewing I've ever seen. He really encouraged me to finish this story and keep writing. I originally uploaded it as an experiment, and never really knew whether I'd even finish it. His encouragement really helped me write, so thanks a million.**

**Speaking of The Frog Killer, the character of Angel belongs to him and comes from his story "The Angel Chronicles". Go read it.**

**Any other character included in this story, other than the main four, are characters I made up. If you've seen a character with the same name in FFXI, then it's a coincidence. Except with Alexandria. A random white mage who saved us once when Banshee's annihilated us. How do I repay her? Make her a traitorous character who betrays everyone. If you ever read this, sorry about that!**

**Whew, this is going on. Chaos. Light Warriors. Confused? The plot involving the Light Warriors, Chaos, Gaia and so on comes from the original FF1. Even any dialogue you see in a flashback to that time comes from the villains comes from FF1 also (I am not to blame for lines such as "I, Garland, will knock you all down"). I interjected my own dialogue between the speeches of the bad guys to come from the Light Warriors. Hopefully, if you are unfamiliar with FF1, it didn't hamper your enjoyment of the story too much.**

**Fake swear words? Yeah, you may be wondering why I did that. To be honest, I find swear words too modern in a fantasy story, and they usually pull me out of it. But to be unable to have characters curse is a pain in the ass, so I used 'fake' swear words. Most stem from television shows. 'Frack' and 'felgercarb' both come from the old seventies sci fi show Battlestar Galactica, 'gorram' from Firefly (I believe it's 'goddam' in Chinese, but I'm not sure), and 'spoony' is a reference to FF4's classic line "You spoony bard!".**

**Some people notice the lack of romance. There are three reasons for this. One, Vivli, Zinkata, Bootus and Voldos are real people, and there is definitely NO romance there (except the odd hug Bootus gives Voldos. Don't ask). Secondly, I cannot write romance to save my life. Thirdly, Of Fantasies does do the romance plot line, so this doesn't intrude on it by giving it an opposite situation. So, if you want to see the characters being romantic, you can read Of Fantasies. Romance in that is written a lot better than I ever could anyway.**

**Finally, if you enjoyed this and feel there's a lack to read, don't worry. I've dedicated at least an hour every day for the past couple of weeks to write a chapter, and now there is that void, I am very doubtful I'll stop writing. Keep an eye out. I have plans for a sequel. It will probably be a lot shorter, and less epic in scope, dealing with the quest outlined at the end and the result thereof. I can't guarantee I'll write it, because in the past all my attempts to write sequels have sucked. But keep an eye out, might even be up tomorrow if I have that void and feel like starting to write. **

**And now, of course, the usual copyright issues. All Final Fantasy copyright belongs to Square-enix. I'll take anything else I can get that's not copyrighted by somebody else.**

**THANKS FOR READING!**


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